CONCORD, N.H. — Four former youth detention center workers charged with sexual assault made initial court appearances in New Hampshire on Thursday, including one accused of abusing a girl multiple times in a “candy storage room” at a second state-run facility.
The state has made 11 arrests this month in connection with a broad investigation into physical and sexual abuse allegations at the Youth Development Center in Manchester, now called the Sununu Youth Services Center. The allegations against Victor Malavet are the first, however, to involve the Youth Detention Services Unit in Concord, where children are held while awaiting disposition of their cases by the courts.
Malavet, 58, of Gilford, is charged with seven counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, all against a girl held at the Concord facility in 2001. According to court documents, he assaulted her in multiple rooms, including a laundry room, TV room and what investigators called a “candy storage room.”
During his court appearance Thursday, a judge read the charges but postponed a bail hearing to later in the day to give him time to speak to his lawyer. The other three men arrested Wednesday — Jonathan Brand, Trevor Middleton and Stanley Watson — also appeared in court but their bail hearings were scheduled for Friday because they didn’t have attorneys.