BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — David Meehan, whose allegations of abuse at New Hampshire’s youth detention center sparked nearly a dozen arrests and more than a thousand lawsuits, finally took the witness stand Wednesday, seven years after he first told his wife, “They raped me.”
“I think I’m more ready than anybody else in this room to do this right now,” he said.
Meehan, 42, spent three years at the Youth Development Center, where he alleges he was repeatedly beaten, raped and locked in solitary confinement in the late 1990s. He went to police in 2017 and sued the state three years later. His lawsuit went to trial last week, and he began testifying Wednesday, describing his early years and arrival at the facility as a 14-year-old in 1995.
His attorneys displayed a photo of him as a smiling toddler clutching a football as he testified about physical abuse by his parents, including his mother’s habit of putting her cigarettes out on his face. They later displayed a closeup photo of Meehan’s face taken when he arrived at YDC and asked him to describe what he saw.
Maui Fire Department report details how it was no match for unprecedented blazes
New video of 'human bear' waving emerges as expert weighs in with verdict
VOX POPULI: Unlike Taylor Swift, few stars in Japan speak out about politics
Beyonce surprises Dawn Staley with gifts after her third NCAA title with South Carolina
Winston Peters discusses Gaza ceasefire with UN Secretary
Offering a chair to older colleague at work could count as age discrimination, judge rules
Beijing confirms missing Taiwan publisher Li Yanhe is under national security investigation
VOX POPULI: Unlike Taylor Swift, few stars in Japan speak out about politics