A 22-year-old initially charged with raping a teenager during a camping trip with friends in Concord in 2017 has been convicted of a reduced charge of simple assault.
Dylan Stahley, a resident of Hillsborough, reached a plea agreement with the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office and, as part of the deal, prosecutors dismissed a more serious charge of aggravated felonious sexual assault, a special felony that carries a state prison term of 10 to 20 years.
As a result of his plea to simple assault, Stahley was ordered to serve 90 days at the county jail and to follow through on the recommendations of his psychosexual evaluation. The remainder of Stahley’s one-year jail sentence was suspended for five years on conditions of good behavior.
Prosecutors filed in early October the new simple assault charge against Stahley, accusing him of “unprivileged physical contact” with the girl who was 16 years old at the time.
Concord police began their investigation on April 13, 2018, after learning about a possible sexual assault from the state’s Division for Children, Youth and Families. Earlier that day, the victim had disclosed the assault from Aug. 26, 2017, to her therapist who then notified DCYF in accordance with the state’s mandatory reporting laws, according to an affidavit prepared by Concord police Detective Wade Brown.
The victim reported that she had been invited that August to hang out with a group of guys, whom she had only spent time with once previously. She said they met up with some Manchester teenagers at the Concord quarry – not far from Blossom Hill Cemetery and the state’s two prisons – where they sat by the campfire and drank wine and Twisted Teas.
She said the assault occurred on a walking trail when she was alone with Stahley. She told police she disclosed to her boyfriend months later.
In an interview with police, Stahley initially denied allegations of physical contact but later recanted, according to the affidavit. He then said he’d had consensual sex but was reluctant to say so because alcohol had been involved.
The girl told detectives that she had not consented to sex with Stahley.
As a condition of his sentence, Stahley is prohibited from having contact with the victim.