A Republican senator from Vermont was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly solicited sex from two women in exchange for overdue rent.
Norman McAllister, who is in his second two-year Senate term representing Franklin County, pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault, human trafficking and prohibited acts as he appeared in Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans on Friday morning.
He has been ordered to be held on $20,000 bail.
The 63-year-old dairy farmer and widower, who's one of the Legislature's most outspoken conservatives, was taken into custody on Thursday evening.
The allegations include that he either accepted or solicited sex from two women in exchange for overdue rent, officials told the Burlington Free Press, who broke the news on Thursday.
An affidavit of probable cause, which will outline the allegations in more detail, will be released at Friday's court hearing.
He has been charged with sexual assault, human trafficking and prohibited acts, state police said.
The case was investigated by the Northwest Unit for Special Investigations, a law enforcement team that investigates sex crimes and child abuse.
Before his arrest Thursday, he had spent the day at the Statehouse, debating issues including a bill on school governance.
McAllister is one of nine Republicans in the 30-member Senate.
He grew up in the southeastern Vermont town of Windsor, has a degree in agriculture management from Vermont Technical College and moved to Highgate, in Vermont's far northwest corner, while in his 20s.
He has sponsored legislation to require recipients of public assistance to undergo drug testing, a measure given little chance of passage in the current Legislature.
McAllister, who is also a dairy farmer, allegedly solicited two women for sex in exchange for the rent
McAllister, pictured left in the House Chamber of the Statehouse in Montpelier, served four terms in the house before he was elected to the Senate. His wife, Lena Mae, right, passed away in 2013
He served four terms in the House in the last decade before election to the Senate.
McAllister, who was named 'young farm of the year' in 1981 and 1982 by state institutions, has worked in several agricultural groups, led a little league team and is a member of the National Rifle Association.
His wife of more than 40 years, Lena Mae McAllister, passed away in September 2013, when she was 61.
They had two sons and a daughter together and he has six grandchildren.
Democratic Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, of Windsor, and Republican Leader Joe Benning, of Caledonia, said on Thursday evening they didn't wish to comment on his arrest.
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