Convicted Killer (and rapist) Paroled

A Burlington man who was 14 years old when he raped and strangled his 7-year-old cousin in was narrowly approved for parole at a Thursday hearing.

The parole board okayed Steven Buelow, now 27 years old, by a 3-2 vote with the recommendation of the Vermont Department of Corrections.

Parole for Buelow comes fourteen years after he received a life sentence for the rape-murder of his cousin Crystal Sumner in August 1988 in Bristol. None of Crystal Sumner's family or relatives attended the hearing to oppose the parole request.

The parole status will actually have litle effect on Buelow's status because he Buelow had been serving his life sentence on furlough since 1998 after he corrections' assessments determined that that he was a model prisoner with very low likelihood of reoffending.

His future now will have fewer corrections controls -- but as he left he said his future always include the guilt for the crime that controls his life every day.

He's already been out of prison for 2 years. Following is from here:

Monday, December 9, 2002

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A man who was convicted of killing a young relative when he was 14 years old has been recommended for parole.

Steven Buelow, who is almost 30, is already out of jail and on furlough in the Burlington area. He is married and employed and will probably receive parole after the Vermont Parole Board hears his case Thursday, said Linda Shambo, the board's executive director.

"Mr. Buelow has done everything," Shambo said. "He has actually exceeded expectations."

Buelow pleaded guilty in 1991 to second-degree murder after his 7-year-old step-cousin, Crystal Sumner, was raped and killed in August 1988.

Parole involves less supervision than furlough. In Buelow's case, the difference would be largely a legal change in his status because he has earned infrequent supervision during his two years on furlough, Shambo said.

Rebecca Collins, Buelow's supervising parole officer who recommended her charge for parole, did not return calls for comment. Attempts to reach Buelow were unsuccessful.

As a boy, Buelow had helped police and volunteers search the cornfields in Bristol where Sumner's bruised, half-clad body was found 24 hours after her rape and murder.

Buelow had stayed with Sumner's family in the days before he killed the girl. Buelow's stepfather was Sumner's uncle.

Police arrested Buelow two days after the murder, and he was charged with felony murder - homicide while committing a sexual act. He faced 35 years to life in prison instead of the start of eighth grade at Mount Abraham Union High School.

Buelow served time in Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center until he pleaded guilty three years after the girl's death to a reduced charge of second- degree murder. He was sentenced to serve 10 years to life in prison.

Buelow went first to a juvenile treatment center in Pennsylvania, said Shambo, and then went through a sex offender program at the St. Albans prison. Buelow was receptive to treatment programs, she said.

Buelow will not register as a sex offender despite receiving treatment in sex offender programs. His conviction is not for a sex crime, said Stewart Robinson of the Corrections Department.

Buelow was first released in 1998 and lived in Dismas House, a halfway house in Burlington, until he was returned to jail after a few months for violating his furlough conditions.

Buelow "didn't do anything to anybody," corrections officials said at the time, refusing to provide further detail.

Buelow has been furloughed now since January 2001, Shambo said. He checks in with the Corrections Department twice a month, she said.

The board considers the individual's potential threat to the community and ability to re-integrate into the community when making a decision, Shambo said.

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