MANCHESTER, NH – A former Youth Development Center counselor is serving a 20 year to life sentence on two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 16-year-old boy 28 years ago at the state-run juvenile facility.
Judge N. William Delker, presiding in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District, sentenced James “Woody” Woodlock, 60, of Manchester on Wednesday on two counts of accomplice to aggravated felonious sexual assault.
He issued two sentences of 10 to 20 years to be served back-to-back at the New Hampshire State Prison. Woodlock was also give credit for pre-trial confinement of 73 days.
Prior to sentencing, victim David Meehan addressed the court saying it was the state that placed him “in the hands of Jim Woodlock” who he said choked him, beat him and held him down so others could rape him. He said that 16-year-old boy is still with him to this day and “for almost 28 years I have lived with what they did.”
He asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
Manchester Ink Link does not routinely identify the victim of a sexual assault. However, Meehan went public with his allegations and was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state.
Family, friends and colleagues of Woodlock addressed the court and wrote letters as well in his support. They described Woodlock as a good, honest man who for years worked as a juvenile parole officer. He would never hurt a child, they said, a stark contrast to Meehan’s accusations and testimony.
Delker, in sentencing Woodlock, said he has been a judge long enough to know that people can be two things at the same time.
He said it is rare for someone to be a true monster.
“The sad reality in crimes like this is that even some of the most respected members of our society engage in this despicable conduct,” he said. It is this “veneer of respectability” that allows people to commit these crimes.
Delker said the testimony of Meehan was the “most compelling testimony I’ve heard in years” and the acts of violence perpetrated on him were hard to listen to.
Delker also said the acts committed on children (at YDC) would never have come to light had it not been for “the bravery of David Meehan.”
On Tuesday, Meehan’s civil lawyers, Russell Rilee and David Vicinanzo, filed his Partial Victim Impact Statement [read it below], which Delker on Wednesday sealed at the request of Woodlock’s attorney.
However, Meehan’s attorneys sent the document out to the media on Tuesday as well, making it available to the public.
In the document, the attorneys listed some examples of alleged violent acts by Woodlock, including the sexual and/or violent acts described in more than 70 lawsuits “naming him as a prolific child abuser in public records.”
The lawyers said that contradicts the narratives presented by family and friends, “people who may well know a different version of James Woodlock. But the unfortunate experience of humanity is that individual humans sometimes live hidden, contradictory lives in different settings.”
They listed the 70 civil suits in which “Woodlock is accused of child abuse – often of the most egregious sort – by victims abused, often in different time periods and who often do not know each other.”
The lawyers also said in the document that Woodlock’s sexual and physical misconduct was not limited to his time as a YDC guard but continued when he took on the role of a Juvenile Probation & Parole Officer (JPPO).
They said between 2007 and 2010, Woodlock was JPPO to Jane Doe #62, and “forced [his probationer] to perform oral sex on him at least once a week for three years. During many of these instances, Woodlock became violent with Plaintiff. Woodlock also vaginally raped Plaintiff on nearly a dozen occasions, and during approximately half the rapes Woodlock got violent with Plaintiff. Throughout these instances of sexual abuse, Woodlock threatened to send Plaintiff to YDC … if she did not comply.”
According to the court document, several years later, at both YDC and as a JPPO after, Woodlock became “increasingly sexually inappropriate” with Jane Doe #146 as recently as 2015. “This was hard to handle because Woodlock was at times a father figure to her.” Among other things, Woodlock touched her vagina, breasts and buttocks. He forced her to send him sexual videos of herself, which he showed her on his phone. He assured her that her sentence would be reduced if she complied with his demands.
Meehan’s civil case went to trial in 2024 in Rockingham County Superior Court. He testified he was sexually and physically assaulted hundreds of times by YDC staff while detained there for four years until he aged out at age 18.
The jury awarded Meehan $38 million. Within minutes of the verdict being announced, the state contended the jury’s verdict was legally limited to $475,000. That’s because the jury form was marked to indicate the state was liable for one incident that caused Meehan’s years of suffering and mental illness. Under state law, an incident is capped at $475,000.
Jurors were not told about the $475,000 limit per incident.
Jurors who contacted defense attorneys later said they meant he suffered from one case of PTSD resulting from hundreds of incidents of assaults.
Defense attorneys are appealing the judge’s ruling.
New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella said of the outcome, “This sentence reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct and makes clear that this type of abuse has no place in New Hampshire. The sentence delivers a strong and appropriate response to the harm caused in this case. We are grateful to the victim for coming forward and to our investigators and trial team for their hard work and professionalism throughout this prosecution. We will continue our work on behalf of YDC victims.”
In the Woodlock case, the assaults took place between Oct. 30, 1997 and Sept. 12, 1998, when Meehan was a teenager court-ordered detained at the Youth Development Center.
Meehan testified to what happened to him and Woodlock took the stand as well, testifying in his own defense and saying, “I didn’t do it.”
Woodlock was accused of beating Meehan and holding his legs as (Jeffrey) Buskey sexually assaulted him.
Defense attorney Richard Guerriero said Woodlock continues to maintain his innocence. He did not address the court.
Amanda Grady Sexton, Director of Public Affairs, New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, released this statement following the sentencing: “David Meehan’s courage in coming forward has changed the trajectory of this case and exposed a history of horrific abuse that never should have happened. Today is the result of a survivor who refused to be silenced and a legal system finally beginning to reckon with its past. We stand with David and with every survivor whose childhood was stolen at YDC. Justice must continue, and we will not stop advocating until every survivor is heard, believed, and supported.”
Below: Partial victim impact statement: