Another innocent man is sitting in prison, courtesy of the YDC scam

On December 10th, former YDC employee James Woodlock was sentenced to two consecutive 10-20 year prison terms for his alleged involvement in a sexual abuse case involving former YDC resident, David Meehan.

A jury found Woodlock guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to felonious sexual assault following his trial in September, 2025. Since his conviction, Woodlock has been held in jail. The conviction came as a shock to many, as there was no evidence, no witnesses and no former staff members who came forward to acknowledge the alleged abuse. The jury found Woodlock guilty based solely on the testimony of one alleged victim, David Meehan. 

Meehan’s story is full of inconsistencies and hard to fathom claims. It’s also important to note that Meehan waited over 20 years before he came forward with claims of his alleged abuse. He is also a confirmed drug addict and has an extensive history of serious mental health issues. Yet a jury of twelve people believed his story and sent Jim Woodlock to prison.

Another very interesting aspect of the YDC scam is that prior to James Woodlock being sentenced, another former YDC worker, Steven Murphy, was found not-guilty. Another former staff member, Jonathan Brand was also found not guilty in September, 2025. Brad Asbury, who faced similar charges was found guilty and received a similar sentence as Woodlock. Of the four trials, two former staff members have been found not guilty and two have been found guilty. It begs the question, how is that logically possible?

During the sentencing hearing, family members, friends and former co-workers spoke in support of Woodlock and begged the judge for leniency. They all described Woodlock as an outstanding family man, loyal friend and passionate professional who dedicated his life to saving the lives of children. His career was flawless and he was known in New Hampshire as one of the best ever. Judge N. William Delker disregarded the lack of evidence, publicly degraded Woodlock, threw the book at him and sentenced him to the maximum sentence allowed by law. 

The YDC scam has ruined the lives of a long list of people, cost the taxpayers of NH hundreds of millions of dollars and tainted the trust the majority of people have in the justice system. Innocent people are sitting in prison and hundreds of former YDC residents have been paid massive settlements. The YDC scam is worthy of a documentary and I’m confident one day, the truth will be exposed.

Until then, there are innocent people sitting in prison and there is a dedicated team of people fighting for them. The support for James Woodlock and Brad Asbury is unwavering and there is still a plethora of unanswered questions and flaws that have occurred since David Meehan first came forward with his claims of abuse. 

In order for a jury to find someone guilty, all 12 jurors have to agree that an individual is guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt. That means that if there is even one aspect of the alleged claims that are questionable, the jury should not find someone guilty. How is it possible to find someone guilty when the only evidence is one person’s testimony versus another? This case should have been thrown out immediately and never gone to trial.

If you doubt any aspect of the other side of the YDC scam, consider this. If one person can make up a story about you that happened over 20 years ago and you can be arrested, charged and found guilty with no evidence and no witnesses, what does that mean for our justice system? It means that what happened to James Woodlock and Brad Asbury can happen to anyone.

At any point in time, you could end up in prison, simply by having a drug addicted, lunatic make up a story about you. And that fact should scare the hell out of everyone.

Chris Thompson’s (christhompsnh@gmail.com) column is published weekly on www.graniteeaglepress.com