Former New Hampshire youth center leader defends tenure after damning trial testimony

By HOLLY RAMER
Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The former head of New Hampshire’s youth detention center is defending himself against claims that he either encouraged physical abuse or was “willfully blind” to it during his nearly 40 years at the facility. Ron Adams didn’t testify during the recent trial in which a jury awarded $38 million to a man who said he was beaten and raped at the Youth Development Center. But his name came up often: Multiple former staffers testified that Adams was resistant to training or disciplining staff, was dismissive toward whistleblowers and endorsed his predecessor’s philosophy that kids should be beaten if they acted up. In an interview Tuesday, Adams told The Associated Press that he doesn’t remember those staffers but never ignored or encouraged abuse.