MANCHESTER, NH — A Manchester man, accused of sexually assaulting two teens who in 2019 walked away from a River Road treatment center, was acquitted on all five sexual assault charges but convicted of five other offenses.
A Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District jury, after deliberating about 3 ½ hours over two days, on Monday found Chasrick Heredia, 26, of Manchester, not guilty of aggravated felonious sexual assault and four counts of felonious sexual assault. They convicted him of two class B felonies of witness tampering and criminal solicitation to commit falsifying physical evidence. Those charges involved Heredia making phone calls from the jail to a friend to ask that he delete a video recording of Heredia having sex with a teen.
The jury also found him guilty of three misdemeanor charges of intentional contribution to the delinquency of a minor. He also has two pending probation violations.
Hillsborough County Attorney John Coughlin said he “acknowledges and congratulates the bravery and courage of the three young women who were victimized by the defendant for coming forth and testifying in the trial. I also congratulate the two prosecutors, Attorney (Johnathan) Cowal and Attorney (Shaylen) Roberts, the victim-witness advocate Director Merrill Beauchamp, and the support staff for a job well done. We will seek justice for the victims of this case and will be well prepared for the future sentencing hearing.”
Defense Attorney Rusty Chadwick said his client, who has been jailed for about two years, was pleased with the outcome. Heredia, he said, did not know the girls were under the age of 18. Heredia faces a maximum sentence of 10 years on all five counts. He faced 10 to 20 years in prison had the jury found him guilty of the single charge of aggravated felonious sexual assault.
Heredia and co-defendant, Matthew Hugle, 25, of 56 Ledgewood Drive, were accused of plying three teenage girls with alcohol and then having sex with them, recording the encounters on cell phones. Hugle is awaiting trial on three counts of felonious sexual assault, one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault and three counts of being an accomplice to delinquency.
The incident took place on July 23, 2019, when the three teens – two age 15 and one age 16 – walked away from Granite Pathways in search of alcohol. They went to a 7-Eleven where they asked people to buy it for them. Hugle arrived at the store and the girls got into his car.
He picked up Heredia and drove to several locations, plying the teens with beer and having sex with them, according to a prosecutor.
When two of the teens returned to Granite Pathways the following day, a prosecutor said one was nude, the other was partially clothed, both were covered in vomit, highly intoxicated and distraught after being sexually assaulted.
A third girl who went with them was still with one of the men, the teens told the staff. Police located her at Hugle’s home.
At one point in the night, the two girls said they woke up in a field to see their friend being sexually assaulted. Both girls were taken to the Elliot Hospital for treatment.
Granite Pathways, which treated teens for substance abuse disorders, was shut down after that incident and other incidents involving teen overdoses.
