MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire jury on Tuesday found a former leader at a youth detention center guilty of holding down a teen while he was raped in 1998.
Bradley Asbury, now 70, was found guilty on two counts of being an accomplice to aggravated sexual assault. He faces a maximum prison term of 20 years on each count. The jury deliberated over three days following a four-day trial.
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Defendant Bradley Asbury, left, accused of holding down a teenage boy so colleagues could rape him at a New Hampshire youth center in the 1990s, confers with his attorney David Rothstein during opening statements for his trial at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H.,, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney David Rothstein, representing defendant Bradley Asbury who is accused of holding down a teenage boy so colleagues could rape him at a New Hampshire youth center in the 1990s, makes his opening statement in Asbury's trial at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H.,, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)
Assistant Attorney General Audriana Mekula holds a picture of alleged victim Michael Gilpatrick when he was 14 that she showed the jury during opening statements in the trial of Bradley Asbury at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H.,, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)
FILE - Michael Gilpatrick, a former youth detention center resident, fights back tears as testifies during a civil trial seeking to hold the state accountable for alleged abuse at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly called the Youth Development Center, April 17, 2024, at Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood, N.H. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool, File)
Defendant Bradley Asbury, accused of holding down a teenage boy so colleagues could rape him at a New Hampshire youth center in the 1990s, looks behind him while seated at the defendant's table during opening statements for his trial at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H.,, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)
Asbury served as a house leader at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester. He was accused of restraining 14-year-old Michael Gilpatrick on a staircase with help from a colleague, while a third staffer raped the teen and a fourth forced him to perform a sex act.
It was the second criminal trial to stem from a broad 2019 investigation into longstanding abuse at the center. Asbury is among 11 men who worked there or at an associated facility in Concord who were arrested.
The case turned on the testimony of Gilpatrick, now 41. He said he’d struggled to cope with the attack for many years and that talking about it at the trial was part of a healing process.
He said he wanted to hold the perpetrators accountable and recalled having an out-of-body experience during the attack.
“I can see it happening, but I can’t do anything,” he testified. “I was just not there. But there.”
After the verdict was read Tuesday afternoon, Gilpatrick cried and hugged family members.
“God is good and the truth prevailed. And I was believed," he said as he left the courthouse.
Meanwhile, Asbury shook his head as he was handcuffed and thanked his family and supporters as he was led away.
“We hope that this brings the victim some relief,” state Assistant Attorney General Adam Woods told reporters.
Last week, Gilpatrick got into several heated exchanges during cross-examination, and at one point called the defense lawyer a “sick man” as the attorney urged him to repeat his claim of rape over and over.
During closing arguments, the lawyer, David Rothstein, said “I want to apologize to anyone I may have upset during that exchange, or any other exchange.”
Rothstein said Gilpatrick lived in an imaginary world in which he’d created villains to explain things that had gone wrong in his life.
“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,” Rothstein said.
He said there were no eyewitnesses or corroborating pieces of evidence, and that Gilpatrick had changed crucial details over time to suit the narrative. He said such an attack on an open staircase in the middle of the facility would have been seen or heard by somebody else.
He said Gilpatrick was motivated by money, pointing out he’d already received more than $146,000 against an anticipated payout from a related civil case.
The prosecution said Gilpatrick didn’t have perfect recall of all the events surrounding the rape but had always been consistent in his recall of the key event. He couldn’t tell anybody at the time, the prosecution said, because Asbury was in charge.
“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,” Woods said.
An earlier case against Victor Malavet ended in a mistrial in September after jurors deadlocked on whether he raped a girl at the Concord facility. A new trial in that case has yet to be scheduled.
The investigation has also led to extensive civil litigation. More than 1,100 former residents have filed lawsuits alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse spanning six decades. In the only civil case to go to trial so far, a jury awarded David Meehan $38 million in May for abuse he says he suffered in the 1990s, though that verdict remains in dispute as the state seeks to reduce it to $475,000.
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.
Defendant Bradley Asbury, left, accused of holding down a teenage boy so colleagues could rape him at a New Hampshire youth center in the 1990s, confers with his attorney David Rothstein during opening statements for his trial at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H.,, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney David Rothstein, representing defendant Bradley Asbury who is accused of holding down a teenage boy so colleagues could rape him at a New Hampshire youth center in the 1990s, makes his opening statement in Asbury's trial at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H.,, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)
Assistant Attorney General Audriana Mekula holds a picture of alleged victim Michael Gilpatrick when he was 14 that she showed the jury during opening statements in the trial of Bradley Asbury at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H.,, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)
FILE - Michael Gilpatrick, a former youth detention center resident, fights back tears as testifies during a civil trial seeking to hold the state accountable for alleged abuse at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly called the Youth Development Center, April 17, 2024, at Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood, N.H. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool, File)
Defendant Bradley Asbury, accused of holding down a teenage boy so colleagues could rape him at a New Hampshire youth center in the 1990s, looks behind him while seated at the defendant's table during opening statements for his trial at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H.,, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)
FIUGGI, Italy (AP) — Foreign ministers from leading industrialized countries threw their strong support Tuesday behind an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah but sidestepped the question of whether to enforce an international arrest warrant for Israel’s leader over the war in Gaza.
In their final communique, the Group of Seven ministers demanded Israel “facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms” to Palestinians in Gaza, warning that its yearlong assault had led to unprecedented food insecurity.
But they didn’t refer explicitly to the Hague-based International Criminal Court and its arrest warrants on charges of crimes against humanity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and Gallant have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.
Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official G7 meeting agenda, even though members were split on the issue and the right-wing government of Premier Giorgia Meloni, a strong supporter of Israel, said they were politically motivated.
The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a member of the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.” All the other G7 countries are signatories and are obliged to respect and implement the court’s decisions.
The final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel must uphold its international humanitarian obligations. And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.”
Pressed on whether Italy would arrest Netanyahu if he stepped foot on Italian soil, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he believed the warrants were “unenforceable” since Netanyahu is a sitting head of a government that isn’t a member of the court. When asked if that same logic applies to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is also the subject of an ICC warrant, Tajani said the situations were different.
“You have to be very pragmatic because when something in theory isn’t applicable, it runs the risk of being just a political message.”
The G7 meeting of foreign ministers, the last of the Biden administration, was dominated by the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Ministers were heartened by indications that a ceasefire might soon be announced between Israel and Hezbollah.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a deal would also improve prospects for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Because one of the things that Hamas has sought from Day One is to get others in on the fight to create multiple fronts, to make sure that Israel is having to fight in a whole series of different places,” he said. “And as long as it’s thought that that was possible, that’s one of the reasons it’s held back from doing what’s necessary to end the conflict. Now, it seems that the cavalry is not on the way. That may incentivize it to do what it needs to do to end this conflict.”
The G7 ministers were joined by the foreign ministers of the “Arab Quintet” — Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday there were “no excuses” for Israel to refuse to accept a ceasefire, saying all its security concerns had been addressed in the U.S.-French-brokered deal.
Borrell said under the proposed agreement, the U.S. would chair a ceasefire implementation committee, with France participating at Lebanon’s request. The outgoing EU foreign policy chief also called for increased pressure on Israel to not give into extremists in the government who were refusing to accept the deal. Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 meeting, he warned that if a ceasefire is not implemented, “Lebanon will fall apart.”
Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel, months of fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have erupted into a full-blown war in recent months, with Israel killing Hezbollah’s main leaders and sending ground forces into southern Lebanon.
Israeli bombardment has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by rockets, drones and missiles in northern Israel and in the fighting on the ground in Lebanon.
Borrell, whose term ends Dec. 1, also said he proposed to the G7 and Arab ministers that the U.N. Security Council take up a resolution specifically demanding humanitarian assistance reach Palestinians in Gaza, saying deliveries there have been completely impeded.
While the G7 meeting was dominated Monday by the Mideast conflicts, attention turned Tuesday to Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha briefed the ministers on Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
In their final statement, the ministers condemned Russia’s use of North Korean troops in Ukraine and its “irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric.”
The G7 has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and G7 members are concerned about how the incoming Trump administration will change the U.S. approach.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours — comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies.
Tensions have heightened since Russia attacked Ukraine last week with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike was retaliation for Kyiv’s use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory.
The final G7 communique vowed the group’s continued commitment to Ukraine. “Our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence will remain unwavering,” the ministers said.
Blinken, at his final G7 before the Biden administration leaves office, said he was certain Europe would continue its assistance to Ukraine and that he would do his best in the remaining weeks to do Washington’s part.
“What we’re determined to do in the remainder of this administration is to do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to be able ... to fight through 2025 if necessary, or if there’s a negotiation, be able to negotiate from a position of strength,” he said.
AP visual journalist Paolo Santalucia contributed.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, center, reacts as he waits for the family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
From left front row, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, foreign MInisters of France, Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada, Melanie Joly, wait for a family photo with, second row from left, foreign Ministers of South Korea, Tae-yul Cho, and Indonesia, Sugiono at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and foreign Ministers of France, Jean-Noël Barrot, wait for the family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya prepare for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya prepare for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, and Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner arrive for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, left, welcomes Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, left, welcomes Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, front, arrives to pose for a family photo with, from left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, left, talks to European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell after a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
A view of the Palacongressi where Foreign Ministers of the G7 and from different Arab countries met at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
From left : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attend a working session at the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (Andreas Solaro/Pool Photo via AP)
From left : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud and UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimy pose for a picture during a working session at the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (Andreas Solaro/Pool Photo via AP)
Front row from left, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken , French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo with, second row from left, foreign Ministers of Quatar, Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Egypt, Badr Ahmed Mohamed Abdelatty, Saudi Arabia, Faisal Farhan Al Saud, Jordan, Ayman Safadi, United Arab Emirates, Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, and Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
