Accused child sex offender loses bail appeal on whether charge constitutes 'violence'

BENNINGTON — An accused child sex offender from Manchester lost his bail appeal in the Vermont Supreme Court based on whether the charge of lewd and lascivious conduct with a 6-year-old child constitutes a violent act, allowing the defendant to be held without bail until his trial next spring.

Cody Shores, 31, of Manchester, was accused last July of lewd and lascivious conduct with a 6-year-old victim. He was released on bail by Judge Kerry McDonald-Cady, who, according to the Supreme Court decision, misread a Vermont statute that labels the charge of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child to be considered a “violent act for the purpose of determining bail.”

Shores was arraigned in late July on a single count, which carries a possible sentence of 15 years behind bars if he is found gui