New Hampshire has reached its first settlement with someone who was physically and sexually assaulted at the state’s juvenile detention center, attorneys for the victim said Wednesday.
The state faces more than 700 lawsuits alleging abuse dating back six decades at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly the Youth Development Center. As an alternative to litigation, lawmakers established a $100 million settlement fund with a two-year application period that began last month.
Lawyers from the Shaheen & Gordon law firm said on Wednesday they have so far resolved a claim on behalf of a male client who was abused at the Manchester facility in the 1970s. Noting that litigation could take years, they said they plan to drop their other 39 lawsuits and file claims through the settlement fund.
NH HOUSE DELAYS THE CLOSING OF THE YOUTH DETENTION CENTER WHERE SEVERAL ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULTS OCCURRED
“We look forward to helping obtain many more recoveries for these victims who have waited too long for justice,” said attorney Anthony Carr.
The Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, is shown on January 28, 2020. The state reached its first settlement with an abuse victim from the center, who was allegedly abused in the 1970s. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Under the settlement fund, victims of sexual assault are eligible for basic awards ranging from $25,000 to $200,000 that can increase based on the frequency of the abuse plus nearly a dozen aggravating factors, including abuse that resulted in pregnancy, perpetration by of multiple people or continuous abuse for more than two years. Individual payments for sexual abuse will be limited to $1.5 million, while payments for physical abuse will be limited to $150,000.
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Ten men were charged in April 2021 with sexual assault or aiding and abetting the assault of more than a dozen teenage girls between 1994 and 2007, while an 11th man faces charges related to a pretrial detention center in Concord. Six trials are scheduled between this summer and July 2024.
