MANCHESTER, N.H. — A tense atmosphere enveloped the courtroom on Wednesday during the cross-examination of an individual who alleges he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by employees at a youth center in New Hampshire. The discussions escalated to the point where the accuser referred to an opposing lawyer as a “sick man” amid a vigorous exchange of words.

This marked the second day of the trial against Bradley Asbury, accused of restraining 14-year-old Michael Gilpatrick in 1997, alongside a colleague, as another staff member assaulted him, while a fourth individual compelled him to perform a sexual act.

This trial represents the second criminal prosecution to emerge from a comprehensive investigation initiated in 2019, which looked into past abuses at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester. Asbury, who is now 70 years old, is one of 11 former employees from the center and a related facility in Concord who have faced arrest due to these allegations.

Gilpatrick, now 41, returned to the witness stand for a second day and was closely examined by defense attorney David Rothstein. Rothstein highlighted discrepancies in Gilpatrick’s accounts related to the incident, questioning details such as the frequency of his home releases in the months prior, the timing of the event, and the presence of other children nearby.

“I don’t clearly remember everything that happened before and after the assault,” Gilpatrick acknowledged. “But what I will never forget is that your client restrained me while another man violated me.” Despite the defense attorney’s insistence on reemphasizing the nature of the allegations, Gilpatrick remained resolute, stating, “He held me down and raped me,” a statement he repeated forcefully into the microphone.

The exchange intensified when Gilpatrick exclaimed, “You want me to keep saying it? You’re a sick man,” before requesting a break and exiting the stand in frustration. Rothstein countered by claiming the assault did not occur and suggested that Gilpatrick’s motivations were financially driven, noting that he had already received over $146,000 in compensation from a related civil case.

In response to Rothstein’s assertions, Gilpatrick asserted, “You’re attempting to convince everyone this is about money, but it has nothing to do with that.” Prosecutor Audriana Mekula described the attack as occurring after Gilpatrick made a sarcastic remark to Asbury and his team, leading to him being violently thrown to the floor and dragged onto a staircase.

Asbury was dismissed from the Concord facility due to allegations of past physical and psychological abuse three years prior. However, he was rehired and continued to serve in Manchester until 2001. He now faces two counts of being an accomplice to aggravated sexual assault. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge. The trial is anticipated to conclude either on Thursday or Friday.

Previously, there was a mistrial for another defendant, Victor Malavet, after jurors could not reach a consensus on whether he sexually assaulted a minor at the Concord facility in September. A retrial for that case has yet to be arranged.

The ongoing investigation has also resulted in significant civil litigation. More than 1,100 former residents have initiated lawsuits alleging diverse forms of abuse, including physical, sexual, or emotional mistreatment over the past sixty years. In May, a jury awarded David Meehan $38 million for abuse he claimed happened in the 1990s, although the state is currently challenging the verdict to reduce it to $475,000.

Typically, the identities of individuals who allege they were victims of sexual assault are kept confidential unless they publicly come forward, which both Meehan and Gilpatrick have done.