By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Adult survivors of New Hampshire’s juvenile detention system have been paid more than $125 million in abuse settlement agreements, according to a report issued Tuesday, as new Gov. Kelly Ayotte signals the money is running out.
The state’s YDC Settlement Fund has so far settled with 242 people who reported being physically and/or sexually abused while incarcerated as children in the state’s Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly known as the Youth Development Center or YDC in Manchester.
Most of the claims are for people who were sexually abused as children by state employees.
The state originally set aside $100 million to settle claims as the abuse scandal, decades in the making, finally became public. But that money quickly ran out, and another $75 million was approved. However, there are more than 600 claims filed with the YDC Settlement Fund still pending, of those are 500 claims alleging sexual and other abuse.
Ayotte recently told reporters the state needs to take a closer look at the way claims are handled by the Settlement Fund before it agrees to pay out more settlements.
“I think the state needs to evaluate those claims,” Ayotte said during a press event. “First, we’re not in a position to continue increasing the $75 million a year until I have more information on how those claims are being evaluated and how that system is working.”
The fund is administered by a team led by retired state Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick. In his recent quarterly report, Broderick told Ayotte he expects an influx of claims filed this year ahead of the June deadline.
New Hampshire does not have insurance to cover the liability, and taxpayers are on the hook for all the funds.
Even once the state pays out all of the approved $175 million, it’s still a bargain compared to the financial calamity looming in court. There are more than 1,000 civil lawsuits filed by survivors pending. The first lawsuit, brought by survivor David Meehan, resulted in a record-setting $38 million jury award. The jury also found that the state is liable for horrific sexual abuse perpetrated by YDC staff and covered up by an indifferent bureaucracy.
That $38 million award has yet to be paid, as the state is fighting to knock it down to $475,000. That fight is heading to the state Supreme Court and will likely be sent back to the Rockingham Superior Court. Two more civil YDC trials are scheduled for this year.
When the scandal broke then-New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald formed a YDC Task Force to investigate and prosecute the alleged abusers. Out of the hundreds of alleged abusers named by survivors, the Task Force managed to indict 11 men.
The last of the indictments were handed up in 2021, and the Task Force has shifted away from investigating any more suspects. So far two of the alleged abusers, Brad Asbury and Stanley Watson have been convicted for their roles in the abuse. A jury in Manchester is currently deliberating the case against Stephen Murphy.
