Mistrial declared in first criminal trial in juvenile detention center scandal

Merrimack Superior County Judge declared a mistrial in the first criminal case involving the state-run youth detention center abuse scandal Tuesday. 

Victor Malavet, 62, who was a counselor at the facility in Concord, was accused of raping a teenage girl in 2001, and faced 12 aggravated felonious sexual assault charges. Malavet is one of nine men criminally charged in the investigation that began in 2019.

After 11 hours of deliberations over three days, the jury of seven women and five men was unable to arrive at a unanimous decision. 

The accuser, Natasha Maunsell, 39, was present when the mistrial was announced, as reported by The Concord Monitor. Maunsell testified during the trial, accusing Malavet of forcibly making her perform a sex act on him. 

Malavet did not testify during his trial. Malavet’s attorneys argued that Maunsell made up the allegations in order to get money from a lawsuit. Maunsell is among more than 1,100 former residents who have filed suits alleging abuse spanning six decades and has received about $150,000 in loans in advance of a settlement.

It is not clear when Malavet will be re-tried, but the eight other men are scheduled to go to trial this fall or next year, with the next trial beginning on Nov. 18 at the Hillsborough Superior Court. 

Since 2019—when YDC Task Force was commissioned— almost 1,300 former residents of the center have come forward alleging physical and sexual abuse at the facility between 1960 and 2019. Eleven arrests have been made in connection with the abuse allegations so far.