New Hampshire jury finds state liable for abuse at youth detention center and awards victim $38M

By HOLLY RAMER
Associated Press

BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire jury has found the state liable for abuse at its youth detention center and has awarded $38 million to a former resident who says he was beaten and raped as a teen in the 1990s. David Meehan’s lawsuit against the state was the first of more than 1,100 to be filed and the first to go to trial. In a ruling in his favor Friday jurors found the state’s negligence in hiring, training and supervising employees allowed his abuse. The state had tried to cast doubt on Meehan’s credibility. But the state also is prosecuting 11 former workers, including those Meehan accuses.