$38 Million Jury Award for Physical, Sexual Abuse at New Hampshire Juvenile Lockup
In 1995, when David Meehan was 14 years old, he was committed to New Hampshire’s Youth Development Center (YDC), later renamed Sununu Youth Services Center, a secure juvenile detention center in Manchester. There he was raped about a year later.
The assault took place in his room. The attacker was guard Frank Davis. Another staffer stood watch at the door. The teen contracted gonorrhea, which medical staff treated. But then in late 1997, counselors Jeffrey Buskey and Stephen Murphy forced Meehan to perform oral sex on them. Buskey later anally raped him, too; another time, he extorted oral sex at gunpoint.
The following year, after Meehan absconded and was caught and returned to YDC, “[o]n an almost daily basis, [he] was anally and/or orally raped by Buskey and/or Murphy, sometimes multiple times in one day,” recalled the complaint he later filed. “During those rapes, the perpetrator would often beat him.” Meehan and other juveniles had visible injuries, yet no staff members reported the abuse.
Multiple times while held at YDC, Meehan was placed “Out of Community”—a form of solitary confinement—sometimes in rooms without toilets; when staff did not make regular rounds to let him use the bathroom, he had to urinate on the floor. During his time in solitary, he was also denied educational programs.
Meehan continued to suffer physical and sexual abuse until transferred to another facility. He was released from custody when he turned 18 in 1999. Due to the trauma experienced at YDC, he “became addicted to heroin for many years, abused alcohol for many years, and attempted suicide multiple times,” his complaint said.
In 2017, after decades remaining silent about the horrific abuse he suffered, Meehan told his wife and filed a police report. He also began investigating and learned that YDC supervisors were aware of the systemic misconduct but covered it up; some had engaged in sexual and physical abuse themselves, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, April 17, 2024, online.]
Meehan’s police report sparked an investigation. Buskey and Murphy were indicted in July 2019 on 82 counts of aggravated sexual assault. Nine other former YDC employees were also charged, though charges against one, Frank Davis, were dropped when he was found incompetent.
Meehan filed suit in state court in 2020, raising claims of negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy, as well as 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights violations. The case went to trial, and on May 3, 2024, a jury awarded him $18 million in compensatory damages plus $20 million in “enhanced” damages—similar to punitive damages. Jurors found the state’s negligence and/or breach of fiduciary duty was a “substantial factor” in the injuries suffered by Meehan, now 42.
The Attorney General’s office moved to reduce the $38 million award, citing state law that limits damages to $475,000 per incident and arguing that Meehan’s injuries had been incurred in only one incident. The state also argued that his suit was untimely— contrary to the jury’s findings—and that he had failed to prove negligence. When he denied the motion, Judge Andrew Schulman said that Defendants “either knew and didn’t care or didn’t care to learn the truth” about abuse at YDC.
“Maybe there is more to the story,” the judge added, “but based on the trial record, liability for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty was proven to a geometric certainty.”
Over 1,100 former YDC residents have filed lawsuits raising similar allegations; Meehan’s case was the first to go to trial. He was represented by attorneys with Rilee & Associates, PLLC in Bedford. See: Meehan v. State, N.H. Super. (Merrimack Cty.), Case No. 217-2020-CV-00026. The state indicated in June 2024 that it would appeal the verdict. PLN will update developments as they are available.
Additional source: AP News