MANCHESTER, NH – Two of six former Youth Development Center (YDC) counselors, charged with sexually exploiting teens at the juvenile facility between 1994 and 2005, were granted bail Thursday while the other four will have bail hearings Friday morning.
Meanwhile, authorities arrested a seventh man Wednesday night in Florida. State police, with the assistance from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Gordon Thomas Searles, 65, of Brooksville, Fla. on one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault. He is alleged to have assaulted a former YDC youth sometime between 1995-98. Searles is being held without bail pending extradition from Florida.
The other six former staffers, one a supervisor, were arraigned Thursday in 9th Circuit – District Division – Manchester. Not guilty pleas were entered for all on misdemeanor offenses while no pleas could be entered to felony charges because circuit court does not have jurisdiction in felony cases; that is handled at the Superior Court level.
Last year, the state formed a task force to investigate allegations of rapes and sexual molestations of youths ordered detained at the state-run YDC, now known as the John H. Sununu Youth Services Center, named after Gov. Chris Sununu’s father.
According to the investigation, teens were routinely raped by staffers, while in some cases co-workers and/or a supervisor held them down as they were assaulted.
The state wanted all six defendants to be preventively detained -– held without bail — because, prosecutors argued, of the nature of the charges, they are a danger to the community and the risk of flight. The six were arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged sexual assaults of teens over decades at the YDC. The current charges allegedly happened over 11 years, between 1994-2005.
Judge William Lyons set bail at $50,000 cash/surety for Bradley Asbury, 66, of 9 Jacqueline Drive, Dunbarton, who is charged with being an accomplice to aggravated felonious sexual assault between Oct. 20, 1997 and June 5, 1998.
New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Tim Sullivan said Asbury, as a supervisor, bears special responsibility because the assaults happened on his watch.
According to the complaint, Asbury acted in concert with and aided Jeffrey Buskey, Stephen Murphy and James Woodlock when they held down M.G. while Murphy anally penetrated the teen through the application of physical strength and or violence.
The assault allegedly took place at East Cottage at the YDC. Defense attorney Richard E. Samdperil asked he be granted personal recognizance bail arguing, in part, that his client has no criminal record.
Also granted bail was Lucien Poulette, 65, of 44 Appletree Road, Auburn, who is facing 33 charges: 11 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, 12 counts of felonious sexual assault and 10 counts of sexual assault involving seven former YDC residents.
A prosecutor said there were additional victims.
Those assaults allegedly happened between 1994-2005. Ten of the charges – six aggravated felonious sexual assault counts and four aggravated felonious sexual assault counts – involve the same youth, identified in the complaints as R.L. The assaults allegedly took place between Jan. 27, 1997 and Sept. 5, 1997. One of the aggravated assault charges alleges a pattern of sexual assault.
Defense attorney James Rosenberg argued for personal recognizance bail saying his client did not have a criminal record and that the allegations are nearly 15 years old.
Lyons set bail at $100,000 cash/surety bail.
Others arraigned, and who will have bail hearings Friday morning, were:
- Jeffrey Buskey, 54, who prosecutors said was from Quincy, Mass. but whose address in court documents is listed as 25 Derlon Lane, Litchfield. He is charged with five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault involving four former YDC residents occurring between 1996-1999. He is alleged to have used physical force, violence and or superior physical strength in assaulting the teens. One of the complaints alleges he engaged in a pattern of sexual assault with one of the boys between Feb. 9 and Aug. 24, 1998.
- Frank Davis, 79, of 1926 Clement Hill Road, Contoocook, one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault and five counts of sexual account allegedly taking place between 1996-97 and involving two former residents of the YDC. He is accused of sexually penetrating D.M. through “concealment or by the element of surprise” at King Cottage before the teen had an adequate chance to flee or resist. He also allegedly grabbed the testicles of another teen on three separate occasions while having an erection in an office at King Cottage.
- Stephen Murphy, 51, of 15 Crestline Circle, Danvers, Mass., five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault involving three former YDC residents occurring between 1997-1999. One of the charges alleges a pattern of sexual assault against one of the boys.
- James Woodlock, 56, of 1555 Bodwell Road, is charged with three counts of being an accomplice to aggravated felonious sexual assault involving two former YDC residents. The incidents allegedly happened between 1997-99. In one, he is accused of aiding Asbury in restraining M.G. while Murphy anally penetrated him at East Cottage. In another, he is accused of assisting Murphy by acting as a lookout while Murphy forced D.M. to perform fellatio on him at East Cottage. He also allegedly acted as the lookout for Buskey when he allegedly forced D.M. to perform fellatio on him, also at East Cottage.
In 2019, Buskey and Murphy were indicted by the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office on dozens of charges alleging the abuse of one teenage boy at the YDC. On July 25, 2019, the attorney general’s office assumed prosecution of those cases. However, as the investigation ramped up, prosecutors dropped those charges saying that deadlines set for turning over discovery to the defense would negatively affect the ongoing investigation.
As the investigation expanded, a joint task force was formed of investigators, prosecutors and victim witness advocates to continue looking into abuse allegations by staffers.
