New Hampshire Youth Detention Sex Abuse Settlement Overview:
- Who: New Hampshire lawmakers have proposed a $100 million settlement to compensate alleged victims of child sex abuse at its state-run youth detention center.
- Why: The proposal comes after 11 former workers were charged with sex crimes against children in April of last year.
- Where: The settlement would compensate alleged victims at the youth detention center in Manchester.
Lawmakers in New Hampshire are considering a proposed $100 million settlement fund meant to compensate alleged victims of child sex abuse at a state-run youth detention center.
The proposal, part of a bipartisan bill, comes after charges were filed in April of last year against 11 former workers alleged to have either committed sexual assaults or acted as accomplices in assaults against more than a dozen teenagers between 1994 and 2007, the AP reports.
Ten of the workers were employed at the then-Youth Development Center in Manchester with the other working at a pre-trial facility in Concord.
Currently under criminal investigation, the case involves more than 400 men and women who have come forward with allegations against the center, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center, since 2019, the AP reports.
The allegations against the Sununu Youth Services Center involve 150 staffers and occurred between 1960 to 2018.
Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed Against Center In May
A federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against the center in May of last year; however, around 350 individual lawsuits have been filed in the months since, the AP reports.
Another 100 lawsuits are expected to be filed by the time of this writing with a public hearing planned for Jan. 20 to discuss a bill that would help create a way to address all of the claims.
Starting in October, individuals who were at the center in 1980 and beyond will have one year to file a claim to be included in the settlement, which appropriates $100 million, according to the proposal.
The claims would be capped at $1.5 million each. Participants would also be able to waive their right to seek compensation.
Rus Rilee, counsel for many of the plaintiffs, claims the settlement requires victims to abandon their legal rights without any assurances they will actually be fairly compensated by the state, the AP reports.
“This version of the bill is offensive to the hundreds of brave survivors of decades of systemic governmental child abuse who have come forward to tell their stories,” Rilee told the AP.
How do you feel about the proposed settlement? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Rus Rilee of Rilee & Associates PLLC and Nixon Peabody.
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