By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Former YDC staffer Jeffrey Buskey, accused of hundreds of rapes in the child sex abuse scandal at what is now known as Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, was fired as a Sanbornton police officer in 2004 after he got caught bouncing checks.
Buskey fought to keep his employment records secret after InDepthNH.org sought copies earlier this year through a right-to-know request. Attorney Tony Soltani successfully represented InDepthNH.org in Belknap Superior Court, resulting in the release of the file this week.
Buskey is currently facing criminal trial on several counts of sexually abusing former YDC resident David Meehan in the 1990s, before he started working as a police officer in Sanbornton. Meehan’s civil trial ended with a record $38 million jury award as jurors found that the abuse happened and the state is liable for Buskey’s alleged actions, although the state is trying to get that reduced.
The Meehan trial featured weeks of grueling evidence about the hundreds of rapes Buskey allegedly committed, evidence that has been reported in state and national news outlets. Yet, Buskey argued his right to a fair trial would be impaired if his police discipline record was not kept secret.
Belknap Superior Court Judge Mark Attorri ruled in favor of transparency, noting the public already had access to the criminal affidavit in the YDC case which contains far more serious allegations than his police file.
“Buskey does not explain, and the Court does not see, why pre-trial disclosure of the details of Buskey’s alleged criminal conduct does not jeopardize his right to a fair trial, but the details in his file do,” Attorri wrote.
New Hampshire’s right-to-know law, RSA 91 A, makes sure the public knows what government officials are doing, Attorri wrote. Buskey’s Sanbornton file is a fundamental matter of public interest, since it gives citizens a clear view of how police are policed.
“In this case, Buskey’s file shows what the SPD was ‘up to’ with respect to officer discipline for infractions that were considered serious enough ultimately to warrant his termination for cause from the department,” Attorri wrote. Attempts to reach Buskey Friday were unsuccessful.
According to the file made public this week, Buskey got reprimanded three times in Sanbornton. Once for showing up to work two hours late. Once for an off-duty road rage incident that led to a verbal altercation with a woman. And the final time for allegedly writing bad checks to a local business owner to cover cash loans.
The name of the business owner is redacted in the file released this week, but was reported as Bernie Salvador in 2004 press accounts of Buskey’s termination. Salvador died in 2009.
Buskey denied wrongdoing at the time, and there are conflicting accounts of the loans in the records.
“I’m being crucified for something I didn’t do,” Buskey told the Laconia Daily Sun in 2004.
Buskey claims his mother had recently died and he needed $1,000 to deal with her estate. Salvador heard about Buskey’s troubles and offered to help. When Buskey repaid the $1,000 loan with a check, Salvador did not deposit the check right away as Buskey asked. But by the time Salvador did deposit Buskey’s check there was not enough money in the cop’s account to cover the whole amount.
“Buskey stated several times he did nothing wrong,” Chief Mark Barton wrote in his internal investigation report.
In Salvador’s version, it wasn’t one check to a down on his luck cop.
Buskey went into Salvador’s Sanbornton Country Store in uniform to cash checks with a clerk while Salvador was not in the building on multiple occasions. The business had a strict “no checks” policy and Buskey allegedly told the clerk not to take his checks to the bank right away, as he did not have the money in his account to cover the loans.
Buskey never repaid the cashed checks, bounced checks at the store, and ran his debt up to $800, according to Salvador’s telling. Barton obtained copies of Buskey’s checks going back to October of 2003 that back up this version over Buskey’s hard luck story about his dead mother.
In February of 2004, Buskey borrowed another $200 for his upcoming vacation and gave Salvador a check for $1,000 to cover the total debt. When he gave Salvador the check, Buskey did not have $1,000, and he told Salvador to wait before taking the check to the bank, according to Salvador’s statement.
That $1,000 check was deposited in late March of 2004, and it bounced. Salvador tried several times to get Buskey to make good on his debt before reaching out to Barton in May of 2004 to see if the chief could get the matter cleared up on an “unofficial basis.”
After speaking with Salvador, Barton talked to Buskey about the debts. By May 28, 2004, Buskey had given Salvador another $1,000 check to cover the total debt, but that check also bounced. Barton then started his internal investigation.
Barton learned that on June 23, 2004, Buskey went to Salvador’s home, again in uniform, with three more checks, post-dated July 1, 2004, July 16, 2004, and July 23, 2004, as he did not have the money in his account to cover the full amount, according to the records. Buskey wanted Salvador to sign a receipt stating the debt was paid in full as of that day, June 23, 2004.
“[Buskey told Salvador that he] was under investigation and would lose his job unless [Salvador] signed a receipt saying that the $1,000 had been paid in full,” according to the records.
Buskey would tell the department that the debt was paid in full as of July 1, though that was not true, according to the records. Barton suspended Buskey on July 7, 2004, and the matter ended up going to Sanbornton’s Selectboard for a termination hearing.
Selectmen agreed with Barton’s position that Buskey needed to go, not least because as Sanbornton’s detective he was responsible for prosecuting people who wrote bad checks. Not only should Buskey have known he was committing a felony, Selectmen said he significantly impaired his “ability to perform his job responsibilities, including but not limited to handling the investigation and prosecution of ‘bad check’ cases and serving as an investigator/witness in any criminal proceeding.”
Buskey somehow managed to stay off New Hampshire’s Exculpatory Evidence Schedule, also known as the Laurie List of dishonest cops, though the reason for the termination seems to create doubt about his credibility as a witness. The whole purpose of the EES is to have a list of police officers who may not be credible witnesses and whose discipline records must be disclosed to defense attorneys before trial.
Buskey’s check writing problems with Salvador, and his conflicting statements to his superiors, happened a few years after he allegedly raped Meehan in YDC. Meehan got out of YDC and away from Buskey in 1998.
Bad checks from 20 years ago may appear a minor problem to someone charged with rape. But it made sense for Buskey to fight the release of this record. Buskey’s credibility could be damaged with the jury at his criminal trial if jurors learn about the reported lies he told that got him fired as a police officer.
