MANCHESTER, NH – Police in Nashua arrested Manchester school board member David Wihby, 62, April 3 on a prostitution charge.
Wihby was arrested at 1:49 p.m. by officers from the Nashua Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Unit, which regularly patrols the city, targeting prostitution, drug and gang-related crime, according to Nashua Police Sgt. Randy Dumais.
“These arrests happen quite frequently,” Dumais said. He did not have any details on the circumstancces of Wihby’s arrest.
In light of the charges, Wihby resigned his post as state director for U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, which he has held since February 2014.
“I am shocked and deeply saddened that David Wihby, my state director and a friend for many years, has been arrested under these circumstances. David obviously cannot continue his duties, and I have accepted his resignation. This is a very difficult time, and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved,” Ayotte said in a statement issued Saturday night.
Attorney and Alderman-At-Large Joseph Kelly Levasseur, a longtime colleague of Wihby’s, was critical Sunday of Ayotte for allowing Wihby to resign without due process.
“He is innocent until proven guilty and the former AG knows that. She should have allowed him to step down until a trial was held. The burden of proof was on the state. Letting him resign was unethical and not very lawyerly for her to do – not to someone of Dave Wihbys stature and respect,” Levasseur said.
Wihby, a former city alderman for 18 years, is vice chair of the Manchester School Board, to which he was elected in 2011 as a member at-large.
He has also served as Deputy Labor Commissioner for the state of New Hampshire and then interim commissioner, when Commissioner George Copadis left for the Department of Security in 2012. Wihby stepped down from that post after James Craig was named permanent commissioner in June of 2013.
Dumais said the arrest report on Wihby was not yet complete, and more information should be available after the weekend.
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