Former Claremont resident faces sexual assault charges involving six victims

Claremont police investigators and Vermont State Police arrested Lance Simons, 55, on Gore Road in Morgan, Vermont, after a months-long investigation into allegations that stretch back to 1999 and involve at least six victims. Court records say some of the alleged victims were as young as 6 and some had disabilities, placing the case among the most serious filed in Sullivan County this year.

Simons was first held at Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, Vermont, on a fugitive-from-justice charge and $50,000 bail, then transferred to Sullivan County Jail in Unity on June 1. He later entered no plea in Claremont District Court on June 2, and on June 9 the court found probable cause in two separate dockets totaling four felony charges before binding the cases over to Sullivan Superior Court in Newport.

The public record shows the scope of the allegations has been described in different ways as the case moved through law enforcement and the courts. One account said Simons faced four felony charges in New Hampshire, while other reporting described a broader warrant that included 12 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, six counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault pattern, two counts of felonious sexual assault, and attempted aggravated sexual assault charges. Another report placed the total at 23 counts of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault.

The different descriptions underscore how large the investigation became before it reached Sullivan Superior Court, where serious felonies are tried. Under New Hampshire law, each aggravated felonious sexual assault count carries a prison term of 10 to 20 years, reflecting the severity of the charges now before the county court.

Simons has also been described publicly as a former Claremont resident, though some reports identified him as a resident of Morgan or West Charleston, Vermont, at the time of his arrest. That local connection matters for Sullivan County readers because the case ties a long-running investigation in Claremont to a cross-border arrest in Vermont and a felony prosecution now centered in Newport.

The allegations involve multiple victims, a long time span, and a case file that has already moved from district court to superior court. With probable cause found and the matter bound over, the next phase will take place in Sullivan County’s trial court.