Nearly 1,200 civil suits have been filed over allegations of rape and abuse of children at a New Hampshire state juvenile detention center. Criminal charges have been filed against 11 former employees in massive state investigation.
Allegations of horrific child abuse at the hands of state employees were heard in a New Hampshire courtroom, where the first of nearly 1,200 civil suits began this month against a state-run youth detention center.
The accusations of rape, beatings and forced fistfights against the former Youth Development Center are widespread, and 11 former employees have been criminally charged by the state during a sweeping investigation that began after a former resident reported to police he had been beaten and raped at the center.
Since David Meehan reported being abused, more than 1,100 civil suits have been filed against the Manchester facility alleging state negligence allowed six decades of abuse. Meehan was the first to file suit and he took the stand for several days this month to testify amid long pauses about the abuse he says he endured.
The state has argued the statute of limitations has passed in many of the suits, and also claims it is not responsible for the "rogue acts" of employees.
Closing statements in the civil trial are expected to begin Thursday. The last witness called by the state Wednesday testified that Meehan suffers from bipolar disorder and not PTSD.
The New Hampshire Attorney General's office is in an unusual position as it both prosecutes suspects and simultaneously defends the state in the civil cases. In the criminal cases, prosecutors are relying on the testimony of former residents. In the civil cases, state lawyers are trying to undermine the credibility of witness testimony.
State officials have previously defended the practice, saying firewalls exist between civil cases and criminal ones in the prosecutor's office.
Inside Edition Digital has requested comment from New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, but has not heard back.
Meehan's father took the witness stand this week and testified for the state in his son's civil suit.
Daniel Meehan disputed some of his son's claims about parental abuse, including allegations that his mother burned his face with cigarettes.
The elder Meehan testified that he did not allow cigarettes in the family home.
The father was asked by Assistant Attorney General Brandon Chase if his son had a "reputation for untruthfulness.” “Yes,” the father replied.
The younger Meehan earlier testified for several days .
Meehan, 42, spent three years at the Youth Development Center, where he alleges he was raped, beaten and locked in solitary confinement in the 1990s.
He entered the facility at age 14 in 1995, Meehan said. He testified that his first sexual encounter occurred when a detention center employee raped him during what supposed to be a strip search.
“I was raped as a little boy by somebody who should not have been in a position to have been allowed to do that," he told the court earlier this month.
He also alleged he was groomed by a counselor who gave him snacks and allowed him to play basketball with local high school students.
“At that point, I have a father figure. I have a man in my life I felt a relationship with,” said Meehan as he wiped away tears. But the man soon coerced him into performing a sexual act on him, Meehan testified.
The abuse went on for years, with other staffers joining in, Meehan said. He began to suffer PTSD and turned to heroin, he said.
It wasn't until he was a grown man, and married, that he was finally able to say, "They raped me," Meehan said.
“I think I’m more ready than anybody else in this room to do this right now,” he said when he took the stand on April 17.
His lawsuit seeks at least $1.9 million in lost income, and additional compensation for pain and suffering, loss of quality of life and and permanent impairment. The lawsuit alleges the state failed to protect Meehan and enabled abuse by being negligent in hiring, training and supervising employees.
All of the former employees charged with abuse have pleaded not guilty. Their cases have not gone to trial.
Since Meehan went to police seven years ago, the state has launched an unprecedented criminal investigation, The Associated Press reported. The facility was erected in the 1850s and is now called the Sununu Youth Services Center, after former Gov. John H. Sununu, whose son is the current governor.
Besides the 11 former state workers facing criminal charges, dozens more are accused in the civil lawsuits against the state.
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