The New Hampshire attorney general’s office has agreed to a $10 million settlement in the case of a man who alleged that he was gang-raped in a stairwell at the state’s youth detention center in the 1990s. Michael Gilpatrick, now 41, was 14 when he was sent to the Youth Development Center for three years in 1997. His lawsuit accused 10 staffers at the Manchester facility of sexual or physical abuse, including repeated rapes and being choked to the point of unconsciousness. The settlement is four times the maximum amount available to abuse victims who submit claims via the state’s settlement fund.
The lawsuit against the state would have been the second of more than 1,300 to go to trial, but both sides agreed to settle out of court. Gilpatrick testified at two criminal trials, at times lashing out angrily at defense lawyers. He said he did not tell anyone what happened to him at the time because dorm leaders were involved in the assault, and he spent decades trying to bury his memories.
The settlement spares Gilpatrick from another emotionally difficult court proceeding. Eleven former youth counselors have been arrested since the investigation began in 2019, with two convictions and one case expected to be retried later this year. The Youth Development Center is set to be replaced with a much smaller facility in a new location. The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sexual assault, but Gilpatrick has come forward publicly.
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