The Youth Development Center

The Youth Development Center

New Hampshire has sent its most troubled kids to the same juvenile detention center for more than a century. It's a place that was supposed to nurture them, that instead hurt them – in some of the worst ways imaginable. It's now at the center of one of the biggest youth detention scandals in American history. How did this happen – and how did it finally come to light?

Episodes

June 4, 2024 2 mins

New Hampshire has sent its most troubled kids to the same juvenile detention center for more than a century. It's a place that was supposed to nurture them, that instead hurt them – in some of the worst ways imaginable. A place that for decades was a black box that people are finally seeing into, and what they’re finding is absolutely shocking. How did this happen? How did it finally come to light?

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Click here to read the companion digital story made in collaboration with The Pudding.

To hear more stories by Jason Moon and NHPR's Document team, click here.

To support investigative journalism like The Youth Development Center at NHPR, click here.

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June 26, 2024 32 mins

Karen Lemoine didn’t arrive at YDC looking to start trouble. But the red flags she saw were hard to ignore, especially when it came to one kid in particular. What trying to do the right thing cost both of them – and why, 30 years later, they’re speaking up again.

Click here to read the companion digital story, see archival photos and internal documents, and explore an interactive timeline of the alleged abuse, made in collaboration ...

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June 26, 2024 32 mins

This flood of roughly 1,300 people who’ve come forward all started with one man. How the widespread abuse at YDC finally came to light and how people are grappling with what justice and accountability even mean in a scandal so large.

Click here to read the companion digital story made in collaboration with The Pudding.

If you have suffered abuse and need someone to talk to, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-65...

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