Judge: Stop stalking former Inntopia president’s wife

Stevens is accused of stalking Hinkson through scores of texts and phone calls, and sending books about rape to her and DeLuca’s Stowe home, in an apparent act of intimidation against DeLuca for allegedly sexually assaulting Stevens’ girlfriend, accusations DeLuca denies.

“There can be little doubt as to the emotional distress experienced by Hinkson as a result of Stevens’ conduct,” Shafritz wrote.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Hinkson wrote, “Stevens’ ugly and twisted behavior came when I was most vulnerable, suffering emotionally, struggling to assess my marriage and manage my feelings of sadness, betrayal and bewilderment. Stevens deliberately tried to make things worse, and he did. It was horrible and the most painful thing I could have ever imagined.”

The judge’s order remains in effect only until July 1, but Stevens’ lawyer, Craig Nolan, is appealing it to the Supreme Court anyway. That appeal was filed last Friday, the same day Shafritz’s order was filed in Lamoille County Superior Court.

“I am confident we will prevail,” Nolan said in a statement Wednesday. “There are numerous factual and legal errors we will address on appeal. Prior to the hearing, my client had never spoken with, met, called or even seen Paige Hinkson.”

Nolan added “new revelations” might surface on appeal.

Husband accused

Two Stowe women accused DeLuca last year of previously trying to get them to have sex with him under the guise of potential employment at Inntopia.

One of them, Alison Miley, sued DeLuca and Inntopia last spring, alleging sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and false imprisonment. She said DeLuca locked her in an Inntopia office and tried to get her to have sex with him.

Last month, Inntopia agreed to pay Miley $60,000 to avoid a trial, which current CEO Trevor Crist and DeLuca said they believed they could have won.

The other woman, Lisa Senecal, wrote a column in the Daily Beast a few weeks after Miley’s lawsuit dropped, alleging similar harassment by DeLuca. (Senecal is also a columnist for the Stowe Reporter.)

DeLuca left Inntopia in 2017 and the company and Senecal entered into a nondisclosure agreement.

In her own statement Wednesday, Senecal said the filing was made by the same lawyer who represented DeLuca in Miley’s lawsuit, Barbara Blackman.

“(It) was a blatant attempt to punish me for speaking out publicly and intimidate me and the supporters of Craig DeLuca’s survivors,” Senecal stated. “It failed, as will future attempts."

According to court documents, Stevens, who “has been in a romantic relationship with” Senecal since 2006 or 2007, sought therapy and read many books about sexual violence in order to “help him understand the experiences of female victims.”

“Stevens testified that it was ‘extraordinarily difficult’ for him to see the pain Ms. Senecal was in after the incident, and he wanted to find ways to support her,” Shafritz wrote.

‘Preponderance of evidence’

Shafritz reached her conclusions after evidence showed Stevens had called or texted Hinkson and DeLuca 151 times between April 2017 and March 2018. She said Hinkson’s voicemail message was clearly recorded by Hinkson, which leads to skepticism that Stevens was trying to reach DeLuca by calling that number.

“The majority of these calls were placed late in the evening and even after what one would consider a reasonable bedtime,” Shafritz wrote. “While Stevens indicated that he was trying to reach Mr. DeLuca and believed he was calling a business number, the court has rejected this explanation.”

Hinkson testified that Stevens had followed her while she was driving and had glared at her for several minutes at a Stowe cafe. She said Stevens had sent several books about rape culture — books recommended to Stevens by his therapist — to Hinkson’s home and, although they were addressed to DeLuca, she was the one who opened the mail.

“The court finds Hinkson has met her burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Stevens stalked her,” Shafritz wrote.

Writings a wrong?

The judge also pointed to a 2017 column by Stevens, which was published in the Stowe Reporter, titled “What to do with bad men: Shun them.” In the column, Stevens said men who commit sexual assault ought to be held accountable by their communities. Stevens allegedly emailed the column to Hinkson.

“This added to Hinkson’s apprehension and fear of Stevens,” Shafritz wrote.

Blackman, Hinkson’s lawyer, also argued that Stevens’ 1997 book “Feeding Frenzy: Across Europe in Search of the Perfect Meal” offered a glimpse into his mind. The book includes a passage in which Stevens envisions killing his female traveling companion.

But Shafritz didn’t find that the language was meant to be taken literally, or a “true representation of his character.”

Nolan said of using Stevens’ prior written works as evidence against him, “If left to stand, this would send a chilling message to all writers.”

“This is about Craig DeLuca, as will be demonstrated on appeal,” Nolan stated. “My client finds Craig DeLuca’s treatment of women reprehensible.”

To which Blackman added her own comment Wednesday: “It is disappointing that Stuart Stevens refuses to accept responsibility for his own conduct and instead tries to shift blame on others.”