Jan. 15—A man who says that a “hit squad” of employees at the Youth Development Centerheld him down and raped him more than 25 years ago will take the witness stand for the third time, this time in the criminal trial against Stephen Murphy.
Proosecutors say Murphy raped the then-14-year-old boy who was being held in a staircase of YDC’s East Cottage in 1998. The trial started with opening statements and the first witnesses on Wednesday in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester.
In this case, Murphy, 55, of Danvers, Mass., faces one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault, but has other pending cases involving three other boys. He also has three other pending cases connected to alleged abuse at the YDC.
Murphy is the fourth former youth detention worker to face a jury on charges connected to an investigation of widespread abuse at the facility in the 1990s and 2000s.
The jury is made up of 12 men and one woman; one will eventually be named an alternate.
Prosecutor Audriana Mekula started her opening statement by showing the jury an intake picture of Murphy’s accuser, Michael Gilpatrick, who has filed a lawsuit against the state and has spoken publicly about the abuse he says he endured while being held at YDC as a youth offender. He didn’t tell anyone about the rape for years after he left YDC.
Gilpatrick was carried to the staircase after a confrontation in the office of Bradley Asbury, who was the house leader at the time, Mekula said. Two workers, including Asbury, held him down as Murphy raped him and another forced him to perform a sex act.
“This trial is about how Mike was raped,” she said. “It is not about revenge. It is not about money. It is about how this defendant, Stephen Murphy, raped Mike forcibly while he was being held down.”
Gilpatrick has testified in David Meehan’s civil trial against the Department of Health and Human Services and the criminal case against Asbury, 70, who was found guilty in November for his role in holding down Gilpatrick. Asbury is set to be sentenced on Monday.
On Monday, the gallery inside Courtroom 1 was full with more than 40 people in support of Murphy. During a break, he greeted and shook hands with many of them.
Murphy has denied the assault, with his lawyer, Charles Keefe, pointing to more than a dozen inconsistencies in the alleged victim’s story and “a multi-million dollar” lawsuit he filed against the state.
“Stephen Murphy didn’t rape Michael Gilpatrick. Stephen Murphy did not slam Michael Gilpatack to the floor, like he is going to claim,” Keefe said. He showed floor plans of East Cottage, which has since been torn down, to suggest to the jury that Gilpatrick would have been carried and assaulted in an area typically full of people.
“There will not be a single witness to that,” Keefe said.
Mekula asked to approach Judge Amy Messer as Keefe posted a slide of the inconsistencies between what Gilpatrick told police in May 2020 and his testimony. Keefe clarified that the information would be used to impeach Gilpatrick’s prior statements.
Keefe also said records show that the four men were not scheduled to work at the same time.
The two others allegedly involved in the rape, Jeffrey Buskey and James Woodlock, also face criminal charges.
jphelps@unionleader.com