Earl Gage was a helpful witness for the state in its prosecution of Victor Malavet — the first person brought to trial on criminal charges in the massive child abuse scandal within New Hampshire’s youth detention system.
Malavet is accused of repeatedly raping a 16-year-old girl in 2001 while he worked as a counselor at the Youth Detention Services Unit (YDSU) in Concord, a now defunct facility for children in state custody.
Gage was a police officer who investigated Malavet in 2002, and who also worked overtime shifts as a counselor at another state-run youth detention center in Manchester.
On the witness stand, Gage implied Malavet got away with a crime.
Asked by a prosecutor if he had recommended criminal charges against Malavet back in 2002, Gage testified, “Unfortunately, at that point I could not,” before being cut off by a defense attorney’s objection.
The Malavet trial ended in a hung jury the following the week, putting more scrutiny on the attorney general’s criminal investigation into the historic flood of child abuse allegations, which has so far yielded no convictions five years after it began.
But what escaped scrutiny — or even mention — during Malavet’s trial was the fact that Gage is himself accused of repeatedly raping a child in his role at the former Youth Development Center (YDC) in Manchester.
The revelation, first reported here, highlights the sprawling nature of the YDC abuse scandal, where hundreds of former state employees have been implicated by nearly 1,300 alleged victims, and where parallel civil and criminal efforts at accountability have generated millions of pages of discovery. The allegations range from severe physical and sexual abuse to forcing children to endure long periods of isolation and preventing them from attending school.
Alleged victim ‘shocked’ Gage was called to testify
Gage has not been criminally charged with abuse. The accusation against him comes in a civil suit filed in August of 2022 by a plaintiff identified as Jane Doe #6. It is among the nearly 1,300 civil lawsuits that have been filed against the state since 2020 over alleged child abuse at YDC, YDSU, and more than 50 other youth facilities run or contracted by the state.
NHPR contacted Jane Doe #6 and asked her to review a photo of Gage testifying on the stand. In an email, Jane Doe #6 wrote, “I can confirm that it is the same Earl Gage who is described in my complaint as sexually assaulting me when I was a girl at YDC.”
Jane Doe #6 declined to be interviewed, but wrote that she was “shocked” to learn that Gage was called as a witness in the trial.
“[T]he same man who abused me was the ‘investigator’ of the abuse of Natasha Maunsell,” wrote Jane Doe #6. “No wonder she didn't get justice.”
Jane Doe #6’s civil lawsuit alleges that Gage raped her on a “near-weekly basis” over the course of several years. (Jane Doe #6 was in state custody between 2001 and 2005, according to her civil suit.) She also claims in her civil suit that she became pregnant as result of the rapes and that Gage then coerced her into having an abortion. While Gage is mentioned in the civil suit, he is not a named defendant.
Gage did not respond to requests for comment sent via email and text message. A man answering a phone number listed in Gage’s name said “wrong number” and abruptly hung up when asked if he was Gage.
While the revelation underscores the scale of the YDC scandal, it also raises questions about whether the prosecutors in the case were aware of the allegations against Gage, and, if so, why the state would criminally charge one alleged abuser while calling another as a witness.
Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Justice, told NHPR: “Due to our ethical obligations and the fact that the criminal case is still ongoing, we are unable to comment at this time.”
The state has not said whether it intends to retry the case against Malavet.
In 2023, the chairperson of New Hampshire's Division for Children, Youth and Families Advisory Board resigned after NHPR reported on allegations against him contained in several civil lawsuits. State officials said they were unaware of the allegations, despite the fact the state had been served with the lawsuits months earlier.
In this instance, Jane Doe #6 not only sued the state over her allegations, she told NHPR she spoke directly to criminal investigators about Gage’s alleged abuse.
“I described all the abuse by Earl Gage to the AG attorney and the State Police in several interviews in 2020 and 2021,” wrote Jane Doe #6.
Maya Dominguez, an attorney representing Malavet, also declined to comment, citing rules of professional conduct for attorneys, except to say they are “disappointed by the mistrial and hope for a better outcome in the future.”
Impact on Malavet case is unclear
It is unclear whether the revelation could impact the case against Malavet, should the state choose to pursue a retrial.
Gage worked as an officer with the Campus Police, a force within state government that provides security at New Hampshire Hospital and surrounding buildings on the state office complex in Concord, which once included YDSU.
According to court documents, in January 2002, Gage investigated allegations of an inappropriate relationship between Malavet and Natasha Maunsell, a then-16-year-old held in state custody at YDSU.
In a 2002 report from his investigation, Gage wrote, “There are serious doubts in my mind as to how truthful Malavet has been.” However, Gage also wrote that he could not recommend criminal charges because Maunsell was denying the allegations, which had been made by another resident: “It is based on lack of victim coming forward, that I am unable to proceed.”
Maunsell testified at Malavet’s trial that she lied to investigators — including Gage — in 2002 out of fear of retaliation. Maunsell’s previous denials of having been sexually assaulted while in state custody were a key theme of Malavet’s defense.
The state, meanwhile, emphasized Gage’s 2002 investigation as evidence Maunsell’s allegations were credible.
“Earl Gage from Campus Police launched a multi-week investigation in 2002,” prosecutor Meghan Hagaman told jurors in her closing argument.
“[Gage] spoke with the defendant about the allegations, and the defendant admitted to him that there were boundary issues between him and Natasha.”
Malavet was the first of nine former state employees currently facing charges in connection with the state’s YDC investigation to stand trial. The next criminal trial is slated for November.
According to an analysis by NHPR, the nearly 1,300 civil lawsuits filed in connection to the YDC abuse scandal name more than 300 alleged abusers.
