DCYF Employee Fired Before Husband Arrested On Child Rape Charges

CONCORD, NH — A state employee was fired last month four days before her husband was charged with rape — after the revelation of a prior rape allegation against him from 2019, that she was accused of knowing about.

Limited information is available about the unfolding case against Kenneth Bradley, 55, of Albin Road in Bow, who was arrested on Sept. 24 on two counts of felonious sexual assault after a multi-month investigation into allegations raised by a girl who lived in his home. During the course of the investigation, police learned that two years before, the victim made allegations against Kenneth Bradley that were reportedly challenged by him and his wife, Deborah Bradley, a connection specialist for children of foster care and adoptions for the Division of Children, Youth, and Families. Those allegations seemingly disappeared and the victim remained in the family's home for another two years.

After his arrest, four more charges were levied against Kenneth Bradley including two aggravated felonious sexual assault charges and a single count of felony sexual assault based on incidents that occurred between Jan. 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2020. A fourth charge, an aggravated felonious sexual assault charge was also issued, accusing Kenneth Bradley of raping the girl on July 14, while police were conducting the investigation.

Jake Leon, the director of communications for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, refused to answer specific questions about the case saying state and federal law required the department to protect the confidentiality of children and families served by and individuals engaged with DCYF.

Deborah Bradley, he confirmed, was employed as a program assistant II and worked part-time. Her salary depended on the number of hours she worked but she was paid about $25,000 in 2020. Deborah Bradley was hired as a state employee in June 2019 and terminated on Sept. 20.

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The couple was featured in a Concord Monitor article promoting both the acceptance and challenges of adoption and foster care in New Hampshire after the couple adopted a girl in 2008 and another girl, the victim, and a boy, in 2015.

They were heralded by then-Gov. Maggie Hassan and Nick Toumpas, the then-DHHS commissioner at an Executive Council meeting, noting that the number of children who needed families was increasing in the state.

According to other NH DHHS documents online, Deborah Bradley applied to be a foster parent consultant sometime in 2017. In January 2019, the Executive Council retroactively approved an amendment to a sole source three-year contract to increase her consultant fee from $75,000 to up to $89,500. The agency, in a letter signed by Jeffrey Meyers, a former commissioner, stated it needed her services for another six months. The original agreement was approved in September 2016.

Deborah Bradley also served as a board member for the NH Foster & Adoptive Parent Association. She resigned from the board on Sept. 4.

How Police Built The Case

The accusation that Deborah Bradley knew about a prior accusation by the victim came to light after Bow police were called after the couple’s children were dropped off at the home of a woman known to the family in Hopkinton on July 13.

The woman told police the victim had accused Kenneth Bradley of sexually assaulting her and “the abuse happened on numerous occasions,” an affidavit stated. The woman told police the children would be staying with her, until further follow-up with DCYF. The woman also told the investigating officer that “Deborah does not believe anything has happened and feels the kids are making it up together,” the report stated.

At 12:30 a.m., police questioned both Deborah Bradley and Kenneth Bradley about the allegation. Deborah Bradley told the officer that “this has happened before when the girls would make things up about Kenneth doing things to them,” according to the affidavit. The officer added, “Deborah stated she does not feel anything has gone on and she would be able to tell.” The officer also accused Deborah Bradley of saying the victim suffered from various mental health issues as well as behavioral issues, the affidavit said.

Deborah Bradley met with police as well as a DCYF investigator around 12:30 p.m. on July 15 to speak about the case and was more forward — stating the girls had given her more information on July 13, according to an affidavit.

Sometime during the time period, she spoke with the girls, and her second meeting with police, Kenneth Bradley was accused of raping the victim again, according to a Bow police complaint.

Deborah Bradley said she had been with her husband since they were teenagers and she “knew him better than anyone,” the report stated. She said, after speaking with the victim about the latest incident, she moved the children to another home temporarily.

On July 16, police along with the DCYF investigator gathered evidence from sheets and a comforter, as well as photos from inside of the home. Kenneth Bradley was also questioned and said “he couldn’t believe that this type of allegation (was) happening again,” an affidavit stated.

The victim was interviewed extensively by the Merrimack County Advocacy Center and gave detailed descriptions of what happened to her, dating back to when she was 12 or 13, with detectives deeming her testimony as credible. She accused Kenneth Bradley of buying her a sweatshirt and leggings after the first sexual assault, the report stated.

Kenneth Bradley gave a DNA sample to police in late July, the report stated. Two rounds of results came back in mid-August and late August, the report stated. The affidavit later connected the evidence gathered to Kenneth Bradley’s DNA — with a one and 390 billion match rate that it might not be his.

The couple was questioned together on Sept. 1, but when given the DNA results, Kenneth Bradley continued to deny the incident, shaking his head, and blurting out, “Excuse me?!,” the detective wrote.

“Deb placed her head in her hands and was silent,” the affidavit said.

The detective questioned the couple about his and their sexual activity, the report stated. Later, after Deborah Bradley left, the detective met with Kenneth Bradley alone. The detective accused him of suggesting that scratching himself would leave traces of his DNA in the victim’s bedroom.

DCYF Oversight Of Adopted Children, Foster Care

While the division cannot speak by law about specific cases, children, or families, Joseph E. Ribsam Jr., the division director for DCYF said there were a number of safeguards in place to ensure that foster and adopted children are placed in safe homes.

For both adoptions and foster care, families go through an extensive license process which includes screening, federal, state, and local background checks and fingerprinting, as well as out-of-state and in-state sex offender registries, and an internal central registry check, too. Five reference checks are required of the parents, Ribsam said, with medical history documents provided by doctors, training by social workers before and ongoing, and multiple visits to the home.

There are about 900 foster homes in the state and each home goes through a renewal process every two years.

A child could be pulled from a home if social workers believed they were not safe, Ribsam said. Sometimes, he added, a child and family are bad fits and officials will move quickly to place the child somewhere else.

Adoptive parents though are similar to birth parents and have a different process than foster parents.

“That is a different standard than what people would typically think of for removing a child from their own home,” he said. “In that instance, of course, there is a court process to go through, based on abuse and neglect findings, and what is in the child’s best interest. It is a lower standard and really just focused on what we think is best for the child, given the circumstances.”

DCYF, too, has a conflict of interest process in foster, adoptive, and investigatory situations.

The agency has a special investigations unit that is outside of the bureau of field services. All district office staff, investigators, assessment staff, social workers, and others, all report to a bureau chief, he said. The special investigations unit is outside of that structure, in a separate bureau, which handles conflicts of interest.

“They also actually do, in most instances, all the investigatory work related to certain high-profile matters like if there is a child fatality or something like that,” Ribsam said. “Just to have a little more of a break between the people doing those investigations and the folks who do the ongoing work with families.”

If a child has to be removed, a different part of the state would investigate the matter, and the investigatory access to information is restricted, he said.

In some states, like New Jersey, where Ribsam previously worked, those functions are outsourced to outside entities. But that said, he noted, was quite larger, in population, than New Hampshire.

Outside, private organizations are part of the process of checking employees who may want to be foster parents, he said.

But even with all of these safeguards and checks, there is a danger, too, of cases that may slip through the cracks, and that is a concern for advocates.

Amanda Grady Sexton, the director of public affairs, while not speaking directly about this case, said abusers will always find ways to work with systems that support children.

“Many abusers seek out kids who are more vulnerable to their abuse, and who are less likely to be believed,” she said. “It’s critical that all systems who support kids are routinely reviewing and updating their policies, training, and screening tools. It’s also important that we provide prevention education to children so that they are aware of behaviors that are inappropriate and unsafe.”

Bow police did not return comment as to whether or not it has arrested or charged Deborah Bradley. Other agencies were either looking for or unable to confirm charges at post time.

Free and confidential support services are available across New Hampshire to anyone that has been impacted by domestic and sexual violence or stalking. Services are open and affirming to all, and you do not need to be in crisis to call. Call 1-866-644-3574 for more information.

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