6 former youth detention center employees arrested on sexual assault charges
Six men were arrested Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation into claims of sexual assault at a state-run youth detention center in New Hampshire, authorities said.
The Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly known as the Youth Development Center, in Manchester has been under investigation since July 2019, when two former counselors were charged with 82 counts of rape.
Those charges were dropped last year to strengthen a broader investigation that has resulted now in the re-arrest of the two former counselors, along with four employees.
The suspects were all staff members of the detention center, and the allegations that they sexually assaulted teens span an 11-year period between 1994 and 2005, according to court documents.
Lucien Poulette, 65, was charged with 33 sexual assault-related charges related to allegations by seven former residents of the Youth Development Center, the New Hampshire State Police said. Frank Davis, 79, was charged with six sexual assault-related charges, connected to allegations by two former residents.
Bradley Asbury, 66, was arrested on one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault (accomplice) for an allegation by one former resident of the detention center, according to the state police. James Woodlock, 56, was charged with three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault (accomplice) stemming from allegations of two former residents, the state police said.
Poulette, Asbury, Davis and Woodlock are being held without bail, according to police.
Two suspects were also arrested in Massachusetts and have waived their extradition, the police said.
Stephen Murphy, 51, was charged with five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault regarding allegations by three former residents of the Youth Development Center, the state police said. Jeffrey Buskey, 54, was also charged with five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, and his charges stem from allegations by four former residents, according to investigators.
The six suspects were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. Attorney information was not immediately available.
