A judge declared a mistrial Tuesday after a jury deadlocked on whether Victor Malavet was guilty of repeatedly raping a teenage girl in 2001 while he worked as a counselor at a state-run youth detention facility.
Malavet was facing 12 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault; each count carried a sentence of up to 10 to 20 years in prison.
It was the first criminal trial resulting from the state Attorney General’s special investigation into allegations of rampant child abuse allegations within New Hampshire’s youth detention system and other facilities for minors.
A note from the jury foreperson was read aloud by Judge Daniel St. Hilaire in the courtroom Tuesday afternoon: “After additional time with thoughtful deliberation, we are still unable to come to a unanimous decision on any charges.”
The jury had continued deliberations after telling the judge earlier in the day that they were deadlocked.
Malavet and his defense attorneys declined comment immediately following the ruling.
Attorney General John Formella issued a statement saying the result of the trial was “disappointing.”
“We remain committed to supporting victims and continuing our efforts to address and prosecute abuse,” the statement read.
It is unclear whether the state plans to retry the case.
Malavet’s accuser, Natasha Maunsell, left the courtroom visibly upset.
During the trial, prosecutors cast Malavet as a predator who “took what he wanted from a child,” when he allegedly raped Maunsell several times while she was detained at the former Youth Detention Services Unit (YDSU) in Concord more than 20 years ago. Maunsell was 16 at the time.
Malavet’s attorneys argued the allegations were lies designed to support Maunsell’s civil lawsuit against the state for the same alleged abuse. Maunsell, now 39, is one of nearly 1,300 people suing the state over child abuse allegations at the former Youth Development Center (YDC), YDSU, and more than 50 other youth facilities run or contracted by the state of New Hampshire. Earlier this year, a jury found the state civilly liable for alleged child abuse at YDC in the case of David Meehan and awarded him a historic $38 million, though that verdict is still in dispute.
The hung jury is a blow to the AG’s investigation, which has been criticized for charging only a small percentage of the hundreds of former staff who are named as abusers in the civil lawsuits. Two of the 11 original criminal cases against former staff have been dropped — one because the defendant was deemed not competent to stand trial, and another because the defendant died.
The Malavet trial also highlighted the stark difference in tone between the state’s positions in the criminal and civil cases.
State prosecutors cast Malavet’s accuser, Natasha Maunsell, as a “lost kid who had a rough life,” while Malavet’s defense highlighted that Maunsell was convicted of assaulting two YDC staff with a metal pipe during an escape attempt.
In contrast, earlier this year, lawyers for the state described YDC plaintiff David Meehan as an “angry and violent young man,” and repeatedly emphasized that he was involved in a violent escape attempt.
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