This week, victims of abuse while in the care of the state’s Youth Development Center (YDC) system spoke out against changes made by lawmakers to the YDC Settlement Fund that removed the independent administrator, changing the position to a political appointee and giving the state the ability to reject settlements.

The changes to the fund remove any semblance of fairness from the process, despite victims pausing their right to a speedy court trial to voluntarily enter the fund based on the promises made by the state.

Below are excerpts of media coverage of survivors decrying the state’s actions and telling their stories of years of abuse.

WMUR: Former YDC residents who say they were abused call for independent fund administrator

People who said they were abused at state-run facilities when they were children are seeking to block a law that would make the administrator of a settlement fund related to their abuse cases a politically appointed position.

Three of the alleged victims who said they suffered abuse at the state-run Youth Development Center spoke exclusively to News 9 about what they endured and the change they hope to see.

“Any and every type of abuse that you can think of – physically, mentally, sexually — it was all going on there,” alleged victim Daniel Padro said.

“I didn’t realize how many of us there were. I was shocked,” Corrinne Murphy, another alleged victim, said.

“Several times this man raped me forcibly,” Chuck Miles, an alleged abuse victim, said. “I more or less came forward in hopes that the state would get educated about what happened, and it would never happen to another young boy.

…

Miles was in fifth grade when he was sent to one of those facilities and said he endured years of abuse.

“Sometimes after these incidents would occur, I would go in the corner of my little cell. I would ball up and shake and scream,” Miles said.

…

Daniel Padro was 14 when he was at the youth detention center in Manchester.

“That place was so bad that I ran away twice,” Padro said.

…

These alleged victims said an independent administrator is necessary to make sure the decisions are fair and not based on political pressure.

“That’s like saying a criminal could pick his judge and jury and outcome,” Miles said.

NY Times: Children in State Care Were Sexually Abused. How Much Money Are They Owed? New Hampshire is backing away from a promise to pay victims hundreds of millions of dollars.

The violations against generations of New Hampshire teenagers and children were staggering in scale: decades of physical, sexual and psychological abuse, claimed by more than 1,500 victims at state-run youth detention centers, one of the worst abuse crises in state history.

After long negotiations to avoid lawsuits, New Hampshire pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to a state fund to settle abuse claims, and hearings began in 2023. Payments averaged about $540,000.

But New Hampshire, which is facing a fiscal downturn, is trying to wrest back control of the cost. In June, lawmakers quietly changed the settlement fund’s rules, limiting its administrator’s independence and giving the state power to veto payout amounts.

…

“It’s like the criminal on trial gets to say, ‘I don’t like this, let’s change it,’” said Corrine [Murphy] Moon, a plaintiff in the class action who has described years of sexual abuse by state employees. “How is that fair? Why does the state get to keep re-victimizing us?”

…

The abuse described by victims in New Hampshire, at three state youth detention centers, included serial beating, sex crime, choking, strip searches and weekslong solitary confinement. Most victims came from poor families, often with absent or abusive parents. Their offenses as minors included drug use, truancy and thefts. The oldest to come forward was 78, describing abuse from 1968. The youngest, 19, detailed abuse from 2018.

A state report in 1978 found deficiencies in training at the facilities. In 1980, the attorney general warned of problems that could lead to lawsuits. But the state did not launch a full investigation until around 2020, as victims came forward and filed lawsuits.

Ms. [Murphy] Moon, the plaintiff, said she was raped repeatedly by state employees after she ended up, at age 14, in state custody. She said she never knew when male staff members would show up in her room in the middle of the night to assault her.

…

Chuck Miles, 57, said he was abused in youth homes beginning in fifth grade, and counts a substandard education and lifelong trauma among his lasting scars. He rejected the state’s claim of a money grab by lawyers.

“The money grab is the governor removing funds from the settlement fund,” he said.