By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — The wait for a verdict continues in the sexual assault case against Victor Malavet, the state’s first criminal trial involving the Sununu Youth Services Center abuse scandal.
One of the jurors, a woman, was dismissed Friday around 10 a.m. after she became ill, according to Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Daniel St. Hilaire. A male alternate juror was chosen to join the remaining group and deliberations were then restarted.
The jury deliberated two hours on Thursday after closing arguments, and about an hour on Friday before the switch. The jury broke at noon and is slated to return Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.
Malavet, 62, of Gilford is accused of repeatedly raping Natasha Maunsell in 2001 and 2002 while Maunsell was a teenager. Malavet was a youth counselor at the Youth Detention Services Unit in Concord when he allegedly groomed and then raped Maunsell. Maunsell, now 39, was in state juvenile custody at the time.
Malavet’s lawyer told jurors Maunsell made the claims to cash-in on the civil lawsuit, which she denied on the witness stand. Malavet was investigated for alleged inappropriate conduct with Maunsell while she was incarcerated, but she denied then that it had occurred. Malavet was transferred to YDC in Manchester after the allegation.
Assistant Attorney General Meghan Hagaman said in closing arguments: “Rape is about power and control. When did Natasha [Maunsell] have power? Not while she was at YDSU.”
Maunsell is one of 1,300 adult survivors who have filed civil lawsuits against the state alleging horrific sexual and physical abuse. The civil lawsuits allege state employees facilitated and covered up the abuse through negligent policies and an entrenched “old boys network.”
The jury in the first civil trial, held earlier this year, found the state liable for the abuse and awarded plaintiff David Meehan $38 million in damages, which the state is contesting.
The Attorney General’s Office is representing the Department of Health and Human Services against the alleged victims in the civil lawsuits, and prosecuting the former state employees accused of abusing the incarcerated children in the criminal cases in separate divisions.
Criminal charges were brought against 11 former state employees of the Youth Development Center in Manchester and YDSU, including Malavet. Charges against one of the men were dropped because he was deemed incompetent to stand trial and another died.
