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# New Hampshire YDC Abuse Trial Ends in Mistrial
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-new-hampshire-2026-09-19-b/
- Published: 2026-09-19T05:51:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-19T05:51:02.000Z
- Description: A New Hampshire judge declared a mistrial in the first criminal case to reach a jury from the state’s youth detention center abuse investigation, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to retry former counselor Jeffrey Buskey.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: State News, New Hampshire

A New Hampshire judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in the first criminal case to reach a jury from the state’s long-running investigation of alleged abuse at the former Youth Development Center, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to try former counselor Jeffrey Buskey again.

Buskey, 60, faced 21 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault involving David Meehan, who was 14 when he entered the Manchester facility in 1995\. According to [The Associated Press’s account of the September 15 ruling](https://apnews.com/article/new-hampshire-mistrial-youth-detention-sex-abuse-e9e625d08f6b151af5221be9acb3c78e?ref=theamericanquorum.com), Superior Court Judge Will Delker ended the trial after testimony twice referred to alleged conduct by other staff members that the court had excluded. Delker first instructed jurors to disregard the testimony, then granted the defense request for a mistrial when the issue arose again.

A mistrial is not an acquittal and produces no verdict on the charges. Senior Assistant Attorney General Thomas Velardi said the state was considering its options, including a retrial, the AP reported. Buskey has pleaded not guilty. The trial had begun one day earlier and was the first of Buskey’s cases to reach a jury; [the AP’s opening-day report](https://apnews.com/article/new-hampshire-ydc-youth-center-abuse-buskey-meehan-f660fb08f73e6f5ed5a811b25ab14669?ref=theamericanquorum.com) said the broader allegations against him involve four former residents from the late 1990s. Separate charges involving three other former residents have not been resolved by this mistrial.

The prosecution grew from an investigation announced in 2019\. In its [original indictment notice](https://www.doj.nh.gov/news-and-media/indictments-jeffrey-buskey-and-steven-murphy-aggravated-felonious-sexual-assault-and?ref=theamericanquorum.com), the New Hampshire Department of Justice said a Hillsborough County grand jury returned 56 indictments against Buskey. An indictment is an accusation, and the department stressed at the time that defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty.

The criminal case is one part of a much larger reckoning over the state-run institution, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center. The state’s investigation has resulted in nine additional arrests, while more than 1,100 former residents have filed civil lawsuits, according to the AP. Meehan’s civil case was the first of those suits to go to trial. A jury awarded him $38 million in 2024, but the state has argued that a statutory limit should reduce the payment to $475,000.

New Hampshire also created an administrative settlement fund for former residents who say they were abused. A 2024 law expanded the fund’s scope and increased potential awards; the attorney general called the legislation a significant step for survivors in an [official statement on Senate Bill 591](https://www.doj.nh.gov/news-and-media/statement-senate-bill-591?ref=theamericanquorum.com). Those civil claims and fund applications proceed separately from Buskey’s criminal prosecution.

For the public, the immediate consequence is procedural: the September trial ended without resolving the charges, and no new trial date has been announced. Any retrial would require new jury selection and another presentation of the evidence, while Buskey’s other pending cases and the wider civil litigation remain distinct proceedings. The ruling therefore delays a verdict in this case without deciding the truth of the allegations.