The state is highlighting the plaintiff’s mental health in the child abuse trial

An attorney defending the state of New Hampshire against claims of facilitating child abuse at the former Youth Development Center (YDC) highlighted the plaintiff’s history with mental health care during cross-examination on Monday in Rockingham Superior Court. A psychiatrist called by plaintiff’s attorneys in the landmark YDC trial later testified that incarcerated children can be at risk of serious mental illness.

Attorney Martha Gaythwaite, one of the attorneys representing the state, drew the jury’s attention to incidents from David Meehan’s past, including a 2015 hospitalization after what Gaythwaite described as a “standoff involving a SWAT team,” and a 2020 episode in which Meehan was involuntarily admitted to Portsmouth Hospital.

“Your wife was concerned about your safety and that of your family?” Gaythwaite asked, referring to the 2020 incident. “Yes,” Meehan replied.

“And you told your wife that you thought you were related to the royal family and you also told her that you thought you were a Biblical figure?”

Meehan acknowledged he was committed but disputed the characterization.

“That same year, 2020, when you went out onto the balconies screaming uncontrollably, when you told people that you thought you were a royal figure and a Biblical figure, that is the same year that you filed this lawsuit against my client, the Department of Justice tightened. Health and Human Services, claiming there was a widespread culture of abuse?”

Gaythwaite also brought up the fact that Meehan had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

READ MORE about NHPR’s coverage of the landmark civil trial here.

Sometimes Meehan became frustrated by the questioning. When Meehan was later asked by his own attorney how the process of making his alleged abuse public has felt, he was emotional.

“How much of this should I remember?” Meehan said. “Because, what, I’m the bad guy, I was a bad kid, so I deserved it? Or I was a bad kid, so that proves I’m a bad man now and I fucking made it up? That hurts.”

After Meehan’s testimony, his lawyers called Dr. Terry Kupers, a psychiatrist and teacher hired by Meehan’s legal team to evaluate him.

Kupers, who has researched the consequences of sexual abuse in prison, says children placed in juvenile detention centers require special attention because of their “very important” stage of development.

“We have to work very hard to help them smooth their path in life,” says Kupers. “And if we fail, it is very likely that they will be at risk for a life of serious mental illness, repeated interactions with the criminal justice system and social failure.”

Kupers will resume his testimony on Tuesday.