Mistrial over jury deadlock in rape of former New Hampshire youth center worker

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — first criminal case linked to growing baby in New Hampshire abuse scandal ended in a mistrial Tuesday after the jury was unable to reach an agreement on the charges against a former juvenile detention center employee accused of raping a teenage girl in 2001.

Victor Malavet, 62, is one of nine men accused in a five-year investigation into allegations of abuse at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, although unlike the others, he worked at a separate, state-run facility in Concord.

After about 11 hours of deliberations spread over three days, the jury found it was unable to reach a decision on 12 counts of aggravated sexual assault.

The jury indicated they were deadlocked two hours earlier, but Judge Dan St. Hilaire ordered them to proceed. He declared a mistrial after receiving a note from the jury stating, “After additional time for thoughtful deliberation, we are still unable to reach a unanimous decision on any charges.”

During the four-day trial, Natasha Maunsell, who was 15 and 16 when she was held at the facility in 2001 and 2002, testified that Malavet often met her alone in a candy store, a laundry room and other locations, where he repeatedly raped her.

“I remember having this excruciating feeling that it would never end. It would never end and it would repeat itself the same way every time,” she testified.

Malavet did not testify, and his lawyers did not call any witnesses in his defense. But jurors heard him deny the allegations Thursday during testimony from a state police officer who was authorized to secretly record her April 2021 interview with him.

“The only relationship I had with her and all the kids was professional,” he said.

Malavet’s attorneys argued that Maunsell made up the allegations to get money from the lawsuit. Maunsell is one of more than 1,100 former residents who lawsuits filed He is accused of abuse spanning six decades and has received approximately $150,000 in loans before concluding a settlement.

“These are all lies. Money changes everything, but it can’t change the truth,” defense attorney Jaye Duncan said in her closing argument.

Both sides declined to comment after the mistrial was announced. The judge said a status conference would be held before the trial could be rescheduled. In a statement, Attorney General John Formella called the outcome disappointing but said his office remains committed to prosecuting abusers.

In the only civil case that has gone to court so far, a jury awarded David Meehan $38 million in May for abuse he claims to have suffered in the 1990s at the Youth Development Center, although the conviction remains a controversial issue.

Together, the two trials underscore the extraordinary dynamics of the state attorney general’s office operating simultaneously. prosecute those accused of committing crimes and defend the state. While the state’s lawyers spent most of Meehan’s trial portraying him as aggressive childa troublemaking teenager and adult with delusionsState prosecutors relied on Mansell’s testimony in the criminal case.

The Associated Press does not typically reveal the identities of people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they publicly admit it, as Maunsell did.

During the hearing, Maunsell admitted she denied being sexually assaulted when asked about it in 2002, 2017 and 2019. She said she lied the first time because she was still in the facility and feared reprisal, and in later years because she did not think anyone would believe her.

“It’s been so long that I didn’t think anyone would care,” she said. “I didn’t think it would matter to anyone… so I kept it to myself for a long time.”