Since 2020, more than 1,100 people have come forward with allegations they were abused as children at New Hampshire’s juvenile jail and other state-contracted youth facilities. It is the largest known child abuse scandal in the state’s history.
Most of the claims are against former staff at the Sununu Youth Services Center (formerly known as the Youth Development Center or YDC). The allegations run the gamut from severe physical and psychological abuse, including beatings and prolonged periods of isolation, to sexual assault.
Jason Moon and Todd Bookman are covering the scandal for NHPR.
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Dan Tuohy/NHPRHere's an explainer on the case and how this civil trial could impact New Hampshire's larger YDC child abuse scandal. -
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADERTwo former staff at NH’s Youth Development Center (YDC) testified management at the facility ignored complaints of abuse and enabled a culture of violence and retaliation.
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Juez niega la solicitud para descartar el veredicto de $38 millones en el caso YDC. Profesores de UNH aprueban resolución para que la universidad hable sobre presencia policial. Senadora Shaheen apoya legislatura para impulsar esfuerzos de salud mental maternal en NH. -
A jury earlier this month sided with David Meehan, who alleged he was repeatedly raped, beaten and held in solitary confinement at the New Hampshire Youth Development Center in the 1990s. -
In NH YDC trial, the jury awarded David Meehan $18 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in enhanced damages. But the state AG aims to use a law to reduce that to just $475,000. -
A jury on Friday awarded $38 million to David Meehan, who alleged that the state's negligence allowed him to be repeatedly raped, beaten and held in solitary confinement as a teenager at the Youth Development Center. But the attorney general's office is seeking to reduce the award under a state law that allows claimants against the state to recover a maximum of $475,000 per "incident." -
A judge ruled Frank Davis is not competent to stand trial, marking the first criminal case in the YDC child abuse scandal to reach a conclusion. -
Estado busca replantear monto otorgado a principal demandante al YDC. Facultad de Dartmouth se reunirá para discutir respuesta de la universidad en protestas pro-Palestina. Nuevo reporte revela baja tasa de suicidio en NH. -
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Jurors found the state of New Hampshire enabled child abuse at the former Youth Development Center, but the state claims the final amount plaintiff David Meehan could receive will be capped. -
The question of whether state health department officials knew, or should have known, about alleged child abuse at the former Youth Development Center is now in the hands of a jury. -
In its defense, the state called witnesses who cast doubt on Meehan’s credibility and gave alternative descriptions of YDC as a well-functioning youth detention facility.
