Bay State men accused in rape at state youth center see charges dropped for now

The alleged attacks occurred betweenOct. 26, 1997 and Sept. 30, 1998. (Courtesy image)

CONCORD - The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office announced on Wednesday that two Bay State men implicated in multiple sex assaults on a single male youth at the state's Youth Development Center in Manchester in the 1990s will have their indictments dropped due to discovery issues time constraints but could be reindicted as part of a wider upcoming probe.

The current investigation began on July 25 when Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald stated that the Attorney General's Office had assumed, from the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office, the prosecution of the cases against Jeffrey Buskey and Stephen Murphy, state employees accused in crimes that occurred at the Youth Development Center (YDC) in Manchester, the AG's office said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Prior to the Attorney General's involvement, the Hillsborough County Grand Jury had returned 56 indictments against Buskey, 52, of Dorchester, Mass., charging him with Aggravated Felonious Sexual Assault, between Oct. 26, 1997, and Sept. 30, 1998.

In addition, the Hillsborough County Grand Jury returned 26 indictments against Murphy, 50, of Danvers, Mass. charging him with Aggravated Felonious Sexual Assault, between Oct. 26, 1997 and Sept. 30, 1998.

The crimes are alleged to have occurred while Buskey and Murphy were employed as youth counselors at YDC. All of the charges against the two involve one survivor who was a minor, in the custody of the YDC, at the time of the offenses.

MacDonald also announced that the Attorney General's Office would be launching a comprehensive, multi-faceted investigation of the YDC and the personnel employed at that agency. That investigation was to initially focus on the timeframe between 1990 and 2000. Since that announcement, the investigation into YDC has addressed whether additional juveniles were subjected to physical or sexual violence at the YDC in this timeframe as well as whether there was conduct which constituted endangering the welfare of a child. That investigation began in August.

Since the assumption of the investigation by the AG's Office, its scope has increased exponentially. In order to address the mounting complexity and growing reach of the ongoing investigation, earlier this year, MacDonald asked Department of Safety Commissioner Robert L. Quinn for a commitment of New Hampshire State Police resources to support the investigation.

Thereafter, the Department of Safety selected 10 State Police troopers and an intelligence analyst to work the investigation. These State Police personnel, as well as the team of investigators, prosecutors, and victim witness advocates already in place at the Attorney General's Office, now constitute the Joint YDC Task Force. The Joint YDC Task Force is headquartered at the Attorney General's Office with lead investigators New Hampshire State Police Sergeant Justin D. Rowe and Attorney General Investigator James O. Kinney.

This investigation is being led by Senior Assistant Attorney General Lisa Wolford with support from Deputy Attorney General Jane Young, Associate Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin, Senior Assistant Attorney General Geoffrey Ward, and Attorney Timothy Sullivan.

"The extraordinary level of resources now devoted to the YDC matter is without any recent precedent and reflects the seriousness with which the State takes these grave allegations," MacDonald said.

In addition to the unprecedented allocation of investigatory resources, the Department of Justice's Office of Victim Witness Assistance has designated a single point of contact, Sunny Mulligan Shea, to assist survivors with their unique needs.

Once indicted, court rules and constitutional protections dictate that a criminal defendant is entitled to certain discovery and trial deadlines. Discovery refers to all the evidence obtained in the course of an investigation. In this case, the broader investigation is ongoing. Deadlines in the prosecutions of Buskey and Murphy are now negatively impacting the State's ability to conduct the broader investigation unfettered.

Accordingly, in order to allow the investigation to proceed to completion and to ensure that any and all charges brought in connection with this matter appropriately reflect all the evidence and all the potential survivors and perpetrators, this Office today dismissed the pending indictments against Buskey and Murphy.

The Joint YDC Task Force will continue with the ongoing investigation. Given the volume of information, this investigation is expected to continue for a number of months. Once the investigation has been completed, a determination will be made by this Office as to what, if any, criminal charges will be brought in connection with this matter. The dismissal of charges does not preclude charges being brought at a later time based on the evidence and the law.

Survivor Resources

Anyone who was physically or sexually assaulted or abused at the YDC is encouraged to contact their local crisis center. Crisis center advocates are available across New Hampshire to provide free and confidential support to anyone impacted by sexual violence. Crisis center services are also available to anyone who has experienced or witnessed abuse, or who is looking to find ways to support someone who has. Crisis centers can provide individual support, support groups, assistance reporting abuse, help understanding options and the legal system, court and hospital accompaniment, housing assistance, and referrals for local services including mental health and substance abuse services. To speak with an advocate, please call the statewide domestic violence hotline at 1-866-644-3574 or the statewide sexual assault hotline at 1-800-277-5570 or find the crisis center nearest you at https://www.nhcadsv.org/member-programs.html.

In addition, any person with information regarding criminal conduct at the YDC is urged to contact Sergeant Justin Rowe of the New Hampshire State Police at (603) 223-8849 or justin.rowe@dos.nh.gov or Investigator James Kinney at the Attorney General's Office at (603) 271-1258 or email: james.kinney@doj.nh.gov.