Current:Home > NewsJury deliberates in first criminal trial linked to New Hampshire youth center abuse-InfoLens
Jury deliberates in first criminal trial linked to New Hampshire youth center abuse
View Date:2024-12-23 11:25:08
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Jurors in the first criminal trial linked to New Hampshire’s sprawling child abuse scandal began deliberating Thursday in the case of a former youth detention center worker charged with repeatedly raping a teenage girl two decades ago.
Victor Malavet, 62, is one of nine men charged in connection with the 5-year-old investigation into abuse allegations at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, though unlike the others, he worked at a separate state-run facility in Concord. He has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault against a resident of the Youth Detention Services Unit, a temporary holding facility for children with cases in court.
Malavet did not testify at his four-day trial, and his attorneys called no witnesses. But jurors heard him deny the allegations Thursday during the testimony of a state police officer who had been authorized to secretly record her interview with him in April 2021. In a 45-minute excerpt played in court, Malavet said he did not have sex with Natasha Maunsell, who was 15 and 16 when she was held at the facility in 2001 and 2002.
“The only relationship I had with her, and all the kids, was just a professional relationship,” he said.
Malavet told police it was common for staff to gravitate toward residents they felt a connection with but insisted nothing inappropriate happened with Maunsell. He acknowledged being transferred to the Manchester facility after others questioned their relationship, but he accused them of “spreading rumors” and suggested he was targeted because he is Puerto Rican.
“People just couldn’t understand that I was trying to mentor her,” he said.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they’ve been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly as Maunsell has done. Over the course of two days, she testified that Malavet arranged to be alone with her in a candy storage room, the laundry room and other locations and then repeatedly raped her.
“Natasha was the perfect victim,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Meghan Hagaman said in her closing statement. “She was alone and afraid. But she’s not a child anymore. She’s not afraid anymore. She’s not ashamed anymore. And that man does not control her anymore.”
In her closing statement, defense attorney Jaye Duncan argued that Malavet should be acquitted based in part on “shocking inconsistencies” not only between Maunsell’s testimony and her past statements but among the various prosecution witnesses.
Maunsell testified that she denied having sex with Malavet when questioned in 2002, 2017, and 2019 because she was scared and thought no one would believe her. But Duncan said she only came forward after other detention center residents sued the state. Maunsell is among more than 1,100 former residents who have filed lawsuits alleging abuse spanning six decades and has received about $150,000 in loans in advance of a settlement.
“It’s all lies. Money changes everything, but it can’t change the truth, and the truth is, Natasha made these allegations to get paid,” Duncan said.
The prosecutor countered that the civil and criminal cases are separate, and Maunsell was not required to pursue criminal charges in order to win her civil suit.
“If this was all about money, why would Natasha participate in the criminal case? She could sue, get money and be done,” Hagaman said. “Why come into this courtroom and tell a roomful of strangers the horrific details about that man repeatedly raping her?”
Two of the charges allege sexual contact without consent while the other 10 allege that Malavet was in a position of authority over Maunsell and used that authority to coerce her into sex. His attorney denied there was any sexual contact, consensual or otherwise.
In the only civil case to go to trial so far, a jury awarded David Meehan $38 million in May for abuse he says he suffered at the Youth Development Center in the 1990s, though the verdict remains in dispute.
Together, the two trials highlight the unusual dynamic of having the state attorney general’s office simultaneously prosecute those accused of committing offenses and defend the state. While attorneys for the state spent much of Meehan’s trial portraying him as a violent child, troublemaking teenager and a delusional adult, state prosecutors relied on Mansell’s testimony in the criminal case.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours Thursday before ending for the day.
veryGood! (8817)
Related
- Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight odds will shift the longer the heavyweight bout goes
- You could be sitting on thousands of dollars: A list of the most valuable pennies
- Iowa-LSU clash in Elite Eight becomes most-watched women's basketball game ever
- Florida man sentenced for threatening to murder Supreme Court justice
- Nicky Hilton Shares Her Christmas Plans With Paris, the Secret To Perfect Skin & More Holiday Gift Picks
- 5 tourists killed in case of mistaken identity in Ecuador while 9 shot dead is separate attack: The battle continues
- Woman extradited from Italy is convicted in Michigan in husband’s 2002 death
- Business leaders call for immigrant worker protection in wake of Baltimore bridge tragedy
- Suspect in deadly 2023 Atlanta shooting is deemed not competent to stand trial
- Wisconsin Gov. Evers vetoes transgender high school athletics ban, decries radical policies targeting LGBTQ
Ranking
- Tua Tagovailoa tackle: Dolphins QB laughs off taking knee to head vs. Rams on 'MNF'
- Larry Lucchino, force behind retro ballpark revolution and drought-busting Red Sox, dies at 78
- Whatever's making sawfish spin and die in Florida waters doesn't seem to be impacting people, marine lab head says
- Judge sides with conservative group in its push to access, publish voter rolls online
- Mother of Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym Details His Final Moments
- Kirsten Dunst Reveals Where She Thinks Her Bring It On Character Is Today
- Oliver Hudson walks back previous comments about mom Goldie Hawn: 'There was no trauma'
- Coachella & Stagecoach 2024 Packing Guide: Problem-Solving Beauty Products You Need To Beat the Heat
Recommendation
-
NFL coaches diversity report 2024: Gains at head coach, setbacks at offensive coordinator
-
Best Sunscreen for Every Part of Your Body, Including Sunscreen for Over Makeup
-
A police dog’s death has Kansas poised to increase penalties for killing K-9 officers
-
North Carolina redistricting attorney who fell short in federal confirmation fight dies at 69
-
Taylor Swift Becomes Auntie Tay In Sweet Photo With Fellow Chiefs WAG Chariah Gordon's Daughter
-
Cheetah Girls’ Sabrina Bryan Weighs in on Possibility of Another Movie
-
Can you buy Powerball tickets online? Here are the states that allow it
-
Tesla delivery numbers are down and stock prices are falling as a result