6 charged in sex abuse probe at a youth detention center

CONCORD, N.H. >> Six former staffers at New Hampshire’s state-run youth detention center were arrested Wednesday in connection with the abuse of 11 children over the course of a decade, including one who continued working with children for nearly 20 years after he is accused of holding a boy down while colleagues raped him.

The Sununu Youth Services Center, formerly known as the Youth Development Center, has been under investigation since July 2019, when two former counselors were charged with raping a teenage boy 82 times in the 1990s.

Those charges were dropped last year in order to strengthen the expanded investigation, but both men were arrested again Wednesday and charged with rape, the attorney general’s office said. Two others also were charged with rape, while another two were charged with being accomplices to rape. The allegations span from 1994 to 2005.

The attorney general’s office didn’t comment on the possibility of further arrests, but said the latest developments were “merely a step forward” and that the investigation will continue.

“Today’s arrests make clear that this administration is committed to holding these perpetrators accountable for their detestable actions,” said Gov. Chris Sununu. “This is not over, and we will continue to investigate these horrific allegations.”

The center is named for former Gov. John H. Sununu, father of the current governor.