MANCHESTER, NH – Jonathan Brand, a former supervisor at a state-run youth detention facility, was found not guilty of sexually molesting a 14-year-old boy 18 years ago.
A Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District jury acquitted Brand, 60, of Concord on Thursday of two counts of felonious sexual assault.
The trial opened on Tuesday.
“Although this is not the result we had hoped for, we respect the jury’s decision and thank our trial team for their efforts. We will continue to do all we can to pursue justice in these cases,” said NH Department of Justice spokesman Michael S. Garrity.
Brand was accused of engaging in sexual acts with the youth, identified as J.B. in court documents, in the boy’s room during the daytime. The alleged acts took place between March 13, 2007 and May 30, 2007 at the John H. Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly known as the Youth Development Center (YDC) in Manchester.
His defense attorney John Newman maintained the accusations were false and that the boy, now in his 30s, made them up so he could get a payout from the state’s Youth Development Fund.
Prosecutors contended Brand used his authority as a youth counselor to force the boy to engage in sex acts.
“My client and I are very pleased that the jury made the right decision and we thank them for their hard work in this case,” Newman said.
Brand still faces another trial in November involving another youth who made a similar accusation.
“We expect that we will prevail in that case as well,” Newman said.
In that case, Brand was indicted on a charge of felonious sexual assault alleging that between March 4, 2010 and Nov. 8, 2010, he allegedly coerced N.L. to fondle his penis.
Brand was charged with the three offenses after the state launched an investigation into allegations of YDC counselors physically and sexually abusing youth for decades in the Manchester juvenile facility.
More than a 1,000 people subsequently alleged the state employees abused them while they were held at YDC and are seeking damages through the state fund. The abuse allegations span six decades, dating back to the 1960s and continuing through 2018.