Ex-DOC Officer, Ensnared In Poaching Case And Accused Of Stealing Mail, Now Charged With Sexual Assault

By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepth NH

Thomas Kelley’s career with the Department of Corrections ended in 2023 with his firing for reportedly stealing a letter sent by a prisoner to court officials detailing Kelley’s abusive behavior toward inmates.

Now, Kelley, 35, is being held without bail on two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault for allegedly raping a woman he met at a bar this summer. The charges allege Kelley raped the woman at his Gilmanton home by physically restraining her, and that he did not stop when she told him “no.”

At the time of the alleged rape, Kelley was out on bail in a perjury case related to the poaching investigation that uncovered the stolen mail. Belknap Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Leonard ruled last week that Kelley is too dangerous to be released again pending trial due to the new charges, and the fact he had guns in his home when he was arrested in June.

“[T]he Court notes that the defendant is alleged to have committed serious crimes where he physically restrained another person and forcibly sexually assaulted her … without her consent. Additionally, the defendant was found to be in possession of firearms and dangerous weapons when law enforcement conducted a search of the defendant’s residence which is in direct contravention of the Court’s bail order,” Leonard wrote.

Kelley has been fighting the perjury case for more than two years for a statement he allegedly made under oath as part of the poaching investigation. Kelley and others reportedly illegally baited bears at a Gilmanton hunting site in 2022. Kelley allegedly swore in front of a notary public that he was the person who was the person who placed bear bait on the Gilmanton site used for bear hunting.

Kelley is one of several men arrested in January of 2023 for the illegal bear baiting. Kelley lost his hunting privileges for three and a half years after he pleaded guilty to seven violations including illegal night hunting, hunting under suspension, illegal baiting of wildlife, and illegal baiting of Black Bear. But his claim under oath to be the only person baiting the hunting site runs counter to the Fish and Game investigation.

Co-defendant Jonathan Carroca, 37, of Dracut, Massachusetts, reportedly baited the site and he was found guilty in September of 2023 of three violations for Black Bear baiting and one violation for taking a Black Bear illegally. Kelley was subsequently indicted for perjury in 2024.

During the Fish and Game investigation Kelley’s cell phone text messages uncovered a conspiracy of abuse and retaliation inside the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord. As first reported by NHPR, in 2021 Kelley stole letters that inmates were sending to alert outside officials about the prison abuse.

Inmate Shawn Cochrane sent a letter to the Merrimack Superior Court in February of 2021 blowing the whistle on the physical abuse and harassment he and other inmates were experiencing at the hands of Kelley and DOC Sgt. Christopher Masse. When the officers learned about that letter and others, Masse expressed worry about the complaints becoming public, according to the text messages.

“Holy f*** dude this legal mail and rat notes are out of f***ing hand,” Masse texted to Kelley on Feb. 15, 2021.

But Kelley had already taken action to protect Masse and himself, according to his text response. He stole six letters from the outgoing inmate mail, including Cochrane’s letter to court officials, the text states.

“Dude it’s bad. I took a ton home with me that probably contain your name,” Kelley texted back.

The day after these texts were sent, Cochrane told NHPR the officers retaliated by searching his cell. They “ripped” the cell apart and confiscated the notes Cochrane was keeping about what was really happening inside the prison.

“You just don’t have any recourse,” Cochrane told NHPR.

The incriminating text messages were sent to the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspectors, and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office in March of 2023. Since that disclosure, however, there have been no criminal charges brought for the mail theft, or the mistreatment of inmates. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office declined to prosecute, telling NHPR the matter was being handled inside DOC.

Kelley was fired in May of 2023, and Masse was reportedly demoted.

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.