This story was originally produced by Seacoastonline. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
A landmark criminal case is moving to judicial mediation, postponing the scheduled October trial of the first New Hampshire teacher charged with having sexual relations with a student of adult age.
Bridgette Doucette-Howell, 39, of Merrimack, stands accused of three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault for allegedly engaging in intercourse with a student who was 18 years old at the time. She is also charged with one count of felonious sexual assault for allegedly kissing the student.
Indicted in March 2022 by the Rockingham County grand jury, Doucette-Howell’s charges relate to alleged activity that took place in Kingston and Exeter between April 26 and May 13, 2021. Doucette-Howell was the first to be charged under the new state law that went into effect in January 2021.
Violation of the new law makes it a Class A felony for any authority figure — an employee, contractor or volunteer — of a primary or secondary educational institution to engage in sexual activity with any student, even if the student is 18 or older. The law applies to students up to 10 months after “graduation or departure.”
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