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# New Hampshire Must Decide Whether to Retry First YDC Abuse Case
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-new-hampshire-2026-09-17-b/
- Published: 2026-09-17T17:44:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-17T17:44:41.000Z
- Description: New Hampshire prosecutors must decide whether to retry former youth counselor Jeffrey Buskey after a mistrial halted the first criminal case tied to the state’s long-running Youth Development Center abuse investigation.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: State News, New Hampshire

New Hampshire prosecutors must decide whether to retry the first criminal case tied to the state’s sprawling Youth Development Center abuse investigation after a judge declared a mistrial this week.

Superior Court Judge Will Delker ended the trial of former youth counselor Jeffrey Buskey on Tuesday after the complainant, David Meehan, referred during testimony to alleged assaults by another staff member. Buskey’s lawyers argued that the statement introduced evidence the jury had been told not to consider. Delker initially tried to cure the problem with an instruction, then granted a renewed mistrial request, according to [The Associated Press’s account from the courtroom](https://apnews.com/article/e9e625d08f6b151af5221be9acb3c78e?ref=theamericanquorum.com).

Buskey, 60, has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault involving Meehan, who was 14 when he entered the Manchester facility in 1995\. The charges are allegations, and the mistrial produced no finding on their merits. Prosecutors said they were assessing whether to try the case again. No new trial date had been announced as of Thursday.

The decision matters well beyond one defendant. Buskey’s arrest in 2019 helped launch an investigation that has led to charges against multiple former workers and more than 1,100 civil lawsuits alleging physical, sexual or emotional abuse over decades. [The AP reported at the start of this trial](https://apnews.com/article/f660fb08f73e6f5ed5a811b25ab14669?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that Buskey also faces separate cases involving three other former residents. Each case must be judged on its own evidence, but the mistrial delays the first criminal test of Meehan’s allegations against Buskey.

New Hampshire is addressing the same institutional history through a separate compensation system. The Legislature created the [Youth Development Center Claims Administration and Settlement Fund under RSA 21-M:11-a](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/i/21-m/21-m-11-a.htm?ref=theamericanquorum.com) as an alternative to civil litigation. The statute authorizes an independent administrator to evaluate claims involving the former YDC and related state facilities, while preserving the right of former residents who do not use the process to pursue litigation.

The claims program is no longer accepting new applications; its [official site says the filing deadline passed June 30, 2025](https://www.ydcclaims.nh.gov/accessing-your-claim?ref=theamericanquorum.com). But the state still faces a substantial backlog. A [March 2026 report to the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee](https://gc.nh.gov/lba/Budget/FiscalItems/2026-05-15%5FAgenda%5FItems/FIS%5F26-091.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) said the fund was established for survivors of sexual and other abuse and detailed the continuing administrative and financial obligations associated with unresolved claims.

The criminal and compensation tracks answer different questions. A criminal jury would determine whether prosecutors proved specific charges beyond a reasonable doubt; the settlement process evaluates civil claims under statutory standards and payment limits. A mistrial is not an acquittal, and it does not resolve Meehan’s separate civil history or other former residents’ claims.

The next practical signal will come from the attorney general’s office: either a request to schedule another Buskey trial, a decision not to retry these counts, or further proceedings addressing the remaining cases. Until then, the state’s first attempted criminal trial in the YDC investigation remains unfinished.