Ex-state adviser implicated in youth center abuse lawsuits

By HOLLY RAMER
Associated Press

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Allegations of childhood physical or sexual assault at New Hampshire’s youth detention center have been made by 20 people against a man later promoted to chief of operations and named to a panel advising the state on juvenile justice. David Ball is among about 150 former workers at the Sununu Youth Services Center who have been identified in civil lawsuits against the state. Ball denies the allegations against him. Nearly 1,000 people say they suffered abuse at the center. The accusations appear in lawsuits against the state and point to a scandal that is not only widening, but spiraling up the hierarchy.