A woman who worked at a New Hampshire youth detention center 30 years ago testified Wednesday that when she reported suspected abuse, supervisors and staff were dismissive at best and threatening at worst.
Karen LeMoyne was the first witness in the first trial to hold the state responsible for child abuse at the Sununu Youth Services Center, a facility in Manchester formerly known as the Youth Development Center. Since the state began its investigation in 2019, more than 1,100 residents have filed lawsuits alleging 60 years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and 11 former state employees have been arrested.
Lemoine quit her job in 1991, four years before David Meehan arrived. Meehan’s lawsuit alleges that during her three years at the facility, she was routinely beaten, raped and kept in solitary confinement. His lawyers are using her testimony to try to prove that the state’s negligence in staffing and training led to his mistreatment.
First trial of nearly 1,200 lawsuits against New Hampshire Youth Detention Center begins
Attorney David Vicinanzo asked whether Lemoine’s workplace provided a “healthy and caring environment,” citing state law that defines the mission of facilities.
“No, in my experience it was a horrible nightmare,” Lemoine said. “I’ve never seen a healthy interaction.”
As she approached, she remembered the children crouching in fear in the corner of the room. Among them was a boy who exclaimed, “I don’t know what that feels like!” Before we get into violent rape. Although Lemoine never witnessed sexual abuse, she saw handprints on the children’s arms and other signs of physical abuse, and saw staff dragging children down stairs and multiple suicide attempts. He said he saw him violently abusing the boy.
Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, stands among the trees on January 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
“A lot of the people who worked in those buildings were, in my opinion, too rowdy, too impatient, and over time it seemed like they were actually doing these things. ..The kids were very unruly, but it was mostly entertainment,” she said.
Lemoine said her first attempts to raise concerns were politely ignored, but the situation quickly escalated. Her house manager crumpled up her complaint and threw it at her. The superintendent said LeMoyne was probably the problem. As she walked down a dark hallway during her night shift, a male staff member gave her a “hip check” and she hissed, “(expletive) rat!”
Another night, she was teaching some boys how to make cookies when one of them leaned over the counter and told her to be careful. The workers told residents that if they did as they were told, their reward would be to have sex with Lemoyne.
“I was scared all night,” she said. “I have to walk through the hallways of that big, dark building with three men, knowing that they are conspiring to teach teenagers how to rape me. did.”
Lemoine said an investigative hearing was held in which one of the staff members admitted to making statements about bribing the teens to attack her. But he said he was joking and refused to tell the teens he shouldn’t have said it, Lemoine said.
Lemoine said authorities also forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement and threatened her with jail time if she spoke about the incident. When she asked her administrator if anything else would be done, “he stood up and pointed at me and said, ‘Get the (expletive) out of here,'” she said. Ta.
The trial, expected to last several weeks, is the most public display yet of the unusual power dynamic in which the state attorney general’s office prosecutes perpetrators against charges brought in civil lawsuits while also defending the state. It is. Meehan’s lawsuit claims the state is not liable for a small number of “rogue employees” and that Meehan waited too long to file the lawsuit.
Under questioning from Assistant Attorney General Catherine Denny, Lemoine said she never collaborated with the men Meehan accused of abusing her. She was also asked about the incident, which she explained to Meehan’s lawyer but not to police who interviewed her in 2021. And why did she not report her concerns to police or state authorities immediately after she left the facility in 1991?
“I felt that I appropriately reported it to the person whose job it was to address this issue,” she said.
Jurors also heard Wednesday from a former employee who helped create training programs for youth center workers and occasionally investigated resident complaints. Wayne Agerbrod testified that when he recommended that one worker be fired for using excessive force, that worker was instead promoted. He said lockboxes set up to receive anonymous complaints were frequently tampered with, and officials were not careful in enforcing a code of silence with circular stickers placed around campus. That’s what it means.
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“It was a rat’s head with a red circle and line and it said ‘no rats allowed,'” he said. All the prefects were wearing them.
