Former state trooper sentenced in sexual assault of Barrington teen
DOVER — A former state trooper was sentenced Tuesday morning to five to 10 years in state prison for sexually assaulting a Barrington teenager while the boy was asleep.
Strafford County Superior Court Judge Peter Fauver told Henry Bird, 70, of Hampton that his criminal act completely overshadowed all the good contributions he has made as a citizen and as a former law enforcement officer.
“You used your position of authority and as a Big Brother to take advantage of this young man,” Fauver also said. “Despite all the good things you did that one night wiped out all of those good things.”
Bird will serve his sentence in state prison with one year suspended if he successfully completes the sexual offender program. Sixty-eight days of his sentence will be reduced because of his being held in the county jail prior to his sentencing hearing. He also will pay the costs of any future counseling the teenager may need, and he has been ordered not to come into contact with any juveniles or the victim and his family.
Bird was the boy’s Big Brother with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program for about two years before he assaulted the teenager on Feb. 26, 2005, when the victim, who was 13 at the time, spent the night at Bird’s house.
Fauver said he was troubled by the “web woven” by Bird during trial in late December to imply the victim was not telling the truth about the assault. The judge added that Bird “concocted” elaborate stories about what occurred, including that he caught the boy masturbating. The content of those stories changed over the course of the past year to include Bird helping the boy masturbate — a story later proved untrue by the state’s questioning of Bird at trial. On Dec. 22, a jury found Bird guilty of committing aggravated felonious sexual assault on the boy.
Bird did not admit his guilt of the crime until he read an apology Tuesday to the now 15-year-old teenager, his mother and the local Big Brothers Big Sisters agency, stating there was no excuse for his conduct. While he looked at the teenager and his family before reading all three letters, he kept his head down as he read his apology to the boy.
“My improper acts ended a friendship I’ll always remember,” Bird said. “I hope you and your family find better days ahead and you can forgive me some day.”
The defense and numerous letters written by friends and family of Bird urged the court to give Bird a lesser sentence stating the sexual assault against the boy was Bird’s one indiscretion in a long life. They also said Bird had given the boy many good experiences he wouldn’t have experienced otherwise, such as trips to the Boston aquarium or going water skiing.
The boy’s family and the state, however, said those good times are forever marred because Bird assaulted the boy.
“He ruined our family’s life and (my son’s) life,” the boy’s mother told the court. “We welcomed him into our home, and he took it all away from us, and I don’t know why.”
The boy, who testified during the trial, did not address the court at the sentencing hearing and sat hunched forward in his seat with his hands clasped while Bird read his letters. His mother cried silently in her seat after making her comments to the court.
County Attorney Janice Rundles also said she did not believe the letter writers, some of them former colleagues of Bird, would have written such glowing descriptions of Bird’s character if they were fully aware of the crime he committed.
“They talk about the benefit the victim received because of his association with Bird, and that’s offensive,” Rundles said. “In effect they are saying that because (the boy) comes from a disadvantaged family … he should accept the fact that it’s OK for him to be assaulted.”
Bird’s attorney, Lincoln Soldati, argued his client deserved a chance to see his family again because he was remorseful and because of his upstanding career and involvement in the community prior to the assault.
“I won’t suggest he walk out of the courtroom a free man, but the letters suggest that you look at the whole man and consider the one crime he committed,” Soldati told Fauver.
Besides serving as a state police lieutenant, Bird also was a driver for former Gov. Meldrim Thomson, was director of the state Police Standards and Training Council and chief of Plymouth State College campus security, now named Plymouth State University, before retiring from law enforcement in 1998 and moving to Barrington.
The defense had suggested a sentence of three to six years while the state asked for six to 20 years. Fauver chose, however, the recommendation by the county department of corrections for a five to 10 year sentence.
“I acknowledge your long and successful career, and to me it’s a mystery why anyone at that level of law enforcement and with the respect garnered from the community … that you could embark on this act,” Fauver said. “Why these demons rose to the surface at this point in your life, I don’t know.”
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