A former youth detention center resident testifies about 'hit squad' attack
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A former resident of New Hampshire’s youth detention center testified Thursday that his house leader and another staffer restrained him in a stairwell while two other workers sexually assaulted him.
The four members of what he and other teens called “the hit squad” then carried him back to his room and tossed him in, he said.
“It felt like I hovered over and watched it,” Michael Gilpatrick said, wiping away tears in Rockingham Superior Court. “My body just went blank.”
Gilpatrick, 40, was the first former resident to testify at the first civil trial seeking to hold the state accountable for alleged abuse at the Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly called the Youth Development Center. The three years he spent at the Manchester facility in the late 1990s overlapped with the plaintiff, David Meehan, who alleges the state’s negligence in hiring, staffing and training led to the near-daily rapes, beatings and long stints in solitary confinement he endured. The state, however, argues it was not responsible for the actions of what it calls “rogue” employees.
Related articles
Independent UN experts urge Yemen’s Houthis to free detained Baha'i followers
CAIRO (AP) — Human rights experts working for the United Nations on Monday urged Yemen’s Houthi rebe2024-05-21Overseas Chinese history museum opens new branch in S. China
The Overseas Chinese History Museum of China has opened a new branch in the city of Chaozhou in sout2024-05-21US opens investigation into Ford crashes involving Blue Cruise partially automated driving system
DETROIT (AP) — Two fatal crashes involving Ford’s Blue Cruise partially automated driving system hav2024-05-21China ready to strengthen high
China is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges with France, give play to the leading role of he2024-05-21What a blast to work at NASA. Space agency is sky
WASHINGTON (AP) — Exploring the cosmos makes for happy employees, federal workers like to work from2024-05-21At least 40 people die in Kenya after dam collapses
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A dam collapsed in western Kenya early Monday, killing at least 45 people and2024-05-21
atest comment