The first criminal trial of a priest in New Hampshire's church abuse scandals ended in a deadlocked jury yesterday.
Jurors got the case of the Rev. George Robichaud Monday afternoon and deliberated 13 1/2 hours over three days before telling Superior Court Judge Harold Perkins they could not agree.
Earlier yesterday, they told the judge they were deadlocked, and Perkins told the six men and six women to try again before he declared the mistrial.
Belknap County Attorney Lauren Noether was involved in another trial and had no immediate comment on a retrial, but court clerk Dana Zucker said a new trial was being scheduled, probably in June.
Defense lawyer Peter Callaghan said he had no comment because it is likely there will be another trial.
Juror Tom Croft said 10 jurors wanted to convict Robichaud, but one man and one woman did not because they had doubts about the age of the accuser at the time of the alleged attack.
Age was a key factor because the indictment charged Robichaud raped and attempted to rape the accuser when he was between the ages of 13 and 15, a minor.
''We had a tough time trying to get a guilty verdict'' because of age, Croft said.
He said the two jurors thought Robichaud was guilty of the acts, but could not convict because they had doubts that the accuser was under 16 at the time.
''We were butting heads in there, certainly,'' Croft said of the jury deliberations, adding that it was ''pretty clear'' on Monday they were deadlocked.
''I totally believed the [alleged] victim,'' he said. ''The other nine absolutely did, too.''
Robichaud, 59, has admitted making inappropriate sexual contact with the former altar boy -- now a 33-year-old state trooper -- but has denied the charges of rape and attempted rape.
He faced 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison on each charge.
It was the first criminal trial of a priest in New Hampshire since a church abuse scandal unfolded 18 months ago.
In another criminal case, Robichaud faces a rape charge involving a different altar boy, who also has filed a civil lawsuit against him.
After Robichaud was accused, the Diocese of Manchester placed him on leave a year ago from his job as pastor at St. Cecelia's Church in Wolfeboro and St. Joan of Arc in Alton.
Robichaud did not testify, but his accuser was on the stand for nearly two days.
Callaghan questioned the trooper's memory of his age at the time, and pointed to pretrial questioning when the trooper at various times said he might have been 14, 15 or even 16, but was almost certain he was 15.
The prosecution emphasized a conversation secretly recorded by police last year when Robichaud apologized to the trooper and said he ''crossed the line'' when he ''played affectionately'' with him, according to police.
Robichaud was pastor of St. Anthony's and St. Stephen's churches in Swanzey at the time he befriended the boy.
In spring 1985, Robichaud took the boy to his cottage on Lake Winnisquam and had sex with him, the trooper testified.