Jury deliberates in trial of accused YDSU abuse
Aug. 29—A Merrimack County jury began deliberations Thursday afternoon in the trial of the man charged with sexually assaulting and raping a teenage girl while working as a state youth counselor in the early 2000s.
No verdict had been reached by 4 p.m. Thursday.
Victor Malavet, 62, of Gilford, faces 12 charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault for incidents that allegedly took place between June and November 2001. He worked as a youth counselor at the Youth Detention Services Unit in Concord, where children would be held while awaiting court dispositions.
Malavet, who was arrested in April 2021, is the first of nine defendants to be prosecuted as part of a multi-year investigation into physical and sexual abuse allegations at the Youth Development Center in Manchester and Youth Detention Services Unit in Concord during the 1990s and 2000s.
Closing arguments took place after the prosecution rested its case after four days of testimony; the defense did not call any witnesses.
The victim, Natasha Maunsell, took the stand over the course of two days of trial.
During opening statements, the prosecution alleged assaults took place in the candy storage room, laundry room, storage room, clothing room and the television room — places where only staff members were allowed.
The defense, however, claimed Maunsell denied allegations of abuse in 2002, 2017 and 2019 only to file a lawsuit in 2021 after similar lawsuits against abuse were filed in regards to abuse at YDC.
