MANCHESTER, N.H. — A jury in New Hampshire convicted a former youth detention center leader on Tuesday for his role in the 1998 rape of a teenage boy. The jury reached their decision after deliberating for three days, following a four-day trial.
Bradley Asbury, who is now 70 years old, was found guilty on two counts of being an accomplice to aggravated sexual assault. He faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each count.
At the time of the incident, Asbury was a house leader at the Sununu Youth Services Center located in Manchester. He was accused of restraining 14-year-old Michael Gilpatrick on a staircase with assistance from a colleague while a third staff member committed the rape and a fourth forced the teen to perform a sexual act.
This trial was the second to arise from a sweeping investigation launched in 2019 that uncovered systemic abuse at the facility. Asbury is among 11 former employees from the center and another facility in Concord who faced charges as a result of this investigation.
The case heavily relied on the testimony of Gilpatrick, now 41, who spoke about the long-term effects of the traumatic experience and described his testimony as crucial to his healing. He expressed a desire to hold his assailants accountable and shared his experience of feeling detached during the assault. “I can see it happening, but I can’t do anything,” he recalled. “I was just not there. But there.”
While being questioned, Gilpatrick had several intense exchanges, during which he referred to the defense lawyer as a “sick man” when pressed to repeat his rape allegations multiple times. The defense attorney, David Rothstein, later issued an apology for any upset caused during these exchanges.
Rothstein contended that Gilpatrick had constructed an imaginary narrative filled with villains to rationalize issues in his life, stating, “Mike Gilpatrick falsely accused Brad Asbury of a crime that he not only didn’t commit, but which, in every shape and form, was virtually impossible to commit.” He highlighted the absence of eyewitnesses or corroborating evidence, arguing that such an assault on an open staircase would inevitably have been observed or heard by someone.
The defense further suggested that Gilpatrick’s motivations were financially driven, noting that he had already received over $146,000 tied to a related civil case.
The prosecution acknowledged that while Gilpatrick did not recall every detail of the events surrounding the rape, he was consistent regarding the crucial aspects and was unable to report the incident at that time due to Asbury’s authoritative role. “Instead of guiding Mike, counseling him, showing him a better way to go out and live his life, these four grown men, including the defendant, shattered the trust,” stated Assistant Attorney General Adam Woods.
A separate trial involving Victor Malavet ended in a mistrial last September due to a deadlock among jurors concerning allegations that he raped a girl at the facility in Concord. A new trial date for that case has not yet been established.
The ongoing investigation has sparked significant civil litigation, with over 1,100 former residents filing lawsuits alleging various forms of abuse spanning a period of six decades. In the only civil trial conducted thus far, a jury awarded David Meehan $38 million in May for abuses he endured in the 1990s, though this verdict is currently under scrutiny as the state seeks a reduction to $475,000.
The reporting protocols typically do not reveal the identities of individuals claiming to be victims of sexual assault unless they choose to come forward, as seen with Meehan and Gilpatrick.