CONCORD, N.H. (AP) 鈥� A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday after jurors deadlocked on whether a former worker at New Hampshire's youth detention center raped a 14-year-old boy in 1998, but the defendant still faces 15 other charges in separate cases.
Jurors were unable to reach a verdict in the trial of Stephen Murphy, 55, of Danvers, Massachusetts, marking the connected to abuse allegations at state-run youth facilities. Jurors first indicated they were at an impasse Wednesday morning, their second day of deliberations.
鈥淲e are obviously disappointed that the jury could not reach a unanimous decision in this case,鈥� Attorney General John Formella鈥檚 office said in a statement. 鈥淗owever, we respect the legal process and the careful deliberation of the jurors. We remain committed to seeking justice for all victims and holding all of the perpetrators accountable.鈥�
No decision on whether to retry the case has been made, said Michael Garrity, spokesperson for the office. Murphy is scheduled for trial in April, July and October on the additional charges involving three other boys who were at the facility in the 1990s.
In the current case, Murphy was charged with aggravated felonious sexual assault and accused of helping to carry a 14-year-old boy to a stairwell at the Youth Development Center in Manchester and then raping him while coworkers restrained the teen. One of the other men, Brad Asbury, of two counts of being an accomplice to aggravated sexual assault and is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 27.
It was the in 2019 that thrust allegations of widespread abuse at the facility, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center, into public view.
During his three-day trial, jurors heard from Michael Gilpatrick, who previously had testified about the allegations at both and involving another former youth center resident. He said he didn鈥檛 tell anyone what happened to him at the time because dorm leaders were involved in the assault, and he then spent decades trying to bury his memories.
鈥淥nce I was about to accept the fact that it wasn鈥檛 my fault and I was able to stop blaming myself, I knew I had to say something,鈥� he testified on Jan. 16.
In closing arguments Tuesday, defense attorney Charles Keefe emphasized inconsistencies between Gilpatrick鈥檚 trial testimony and what he told police in 2020 and suggested he has 鈥渕ade it worse with each telling鈥� in hopes of winning money in a separate civil lawsuit.
鈥淲hen he changes everything that he says happened before and after and even during the alleged assault, he has forfeited the privilege of having you believe him,鈥� Keefe told jurors.
Keefe also contrasted the way Murphy calmly answered 鈥渁bsolutely not鈥� to repeated questions about whether he abused Gilpatrick with the anger Gilpatrick displayed during his testimony.
鈥淗e鈥檚 told this story many times since 2020, but he still acted like it was the first time he was telling it,鈥� Keefe said. 鈥淧rosecutors may suggest to you this means he relives it with each telling. Our common experience tells us that the more we talk about something awful that actually happened, the easier it is.鈥�
Assistant Attorney General Audriana Mekula countered that Gilpatrick came forward 鈥渘ot for money that he doesn鈥檛 need or attention that he doesn鈥檛 want鈥� but because it was the right thing to do, even if it meant hours talking about sexual assault in a courtroom packed with Murphy鈥檚 friends and relatives.
鈥淒o you think he鈥檇 willingly do that in front of all these people, these strangers, and feel that raw emotion of the moment, the anger, the sadness and the exhaustion, if this did not really happen?鈥� she said. 鈥淗e has not healed from what the defendant did to him, but his behavior in that healing process does not mean he鈥檚 forfeited his privilege for you to believe him.鈥�
Murphy and another former employee in July 2019 and charged with sexually assaulting David Meehan, who later became the first of who have sued the state alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse spanning six decades. A jury , though that verdict remains in dispute as the state seeks to reduce the amount to $475,000.
Concurrent with Murphy鈥檚 arrest, the attorney general鈥檚 office launched a broad investigation into the facility. A total of 11 men have been arrested, though charges against one were dropped due to a lack of evidence, another was found incompetent to stand trial and a third died awaiting trial. Murphy was the fourth to go to trial.
In addition to Asbury, Stanley Watson was convicted Jan. 13 of three counts of aggravated sexual assault against two boys. Another case that is expected to be retried later this year.
The Associated Press generally does not identify those who say they were victims of sexual assault unless they have come forward publicly, as Meehan and Gilpatrick have done.
The youth center, which once housed upward of 100 children but now typically serves fewer than a dozen, is named for former Gov. John H. Sununu. Lawmakers have approved closing the facility, which now only houses those accused or convicted of the most serious violent crimes, and replacing it with a much smaller building in a new location.
Holly Ramer, The Associated Press
