New Hampshire lawsuit seeks to stop politicization of youth center abuse victims’ fund

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Lawyers representing hundreds of men and woman who claim they were abused at New Hampshire’s youth detention center filed a class action lawsuit Friday seeking to prevent the independent administrator of the state’s settlement fund for victims from being replaced with a political appointee.

Lawmakers created the settlement fund in 2022, pitching it as a “victim-centered” and “trauma-informed” alternative to litigation that would be run by a neutral administrator appointed by the state Supreme Court. But the Republican-led Legislature changed that process through last-minute additions to the state budget approved Thursday and signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte on Friday.

Under the new provisions taking effect July 1, the governor will have the authority to hire and fire the fund’s administrator, and the attorney general — also a political appointee — would have veto power over settlement awards.

In affidavits filed with their complaint, the lead plaintiffs said the change amounts to a bait and switch that reignited the skepticism they initially felt about the settlement process but tried to put aside.

“I never would have shared the full story of what happened to me if I did not think I would be heard by someone impartial,” said a woman identified only as Jane Doe, who said she ran away from home to escape sexual abuse only to be further abused in state custody.

“I feel incredibly betrayed by the state’s actions, but this is just the latest in a long list of betrayals by the state, so maybe I should not be surprised,” she said. “This also makes me wonder whether the state will next betray the promise of confidentiality, because it seems like their word does not mean anything to them.”

Another plaintiff, Andrew Foley, described being diagnosed with PTSD, not from his time as a combat soldier in Iraq but from the physical and sexual abuse he suffered as a child.

“As I understand it, the State will now decide for itself how much my claim is worth. That is the opposite of a fair process,” his affidavit said. “As I always believed, the state cannot be trusted.”

Neither Ayotte nor Attorney General John Formella responded to requests for comment Friday.

More than 1,300 people have sued since 2020 alleging that they were physically or sexually abused in state custody as children, most of them at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester.

Only one case has gone to trial, resulting in a $38 million verdict, though the state is trying to slash it to $475,000. Two other cases have been settled for $10 million and $4.5 million.

The state also has brought criminal charges against former workers, with two convictions and two mistrials so far.

Many of the alleged victims put their lawsuits on hold and applied to the settlement fund, which caps payouts at $2.5 million. As of March 31, 296 cases had been settled, with an average award of $543,000, according to the most recently available statistics.

The lawsuit filed Friday seeks a temporary restraining order to prevent the governor from firing the current administrator, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick.