New Hampshire
NH Supreme Court Rules Against Church Sex Abuse Victim
By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Randy Ball says when he was raped at age 8 at Camp Fatima in Gilmanton Iron Works by Fr. Karl Dowd, the now notorious deceased priest told him it was all part of God’s plan.
Ball said he is disappointed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling that he is now powerless to seek justice because of the state statute of limitations.
Ball, 59, and his husband, John Thomas, told InDepthNH.org they are both disappointed in the Court’s ruling released on Wednesday that protects the Church at the expense of victims. Ball and Thomas gave InDepthNH.org permission to use their names for this story.
“Randy and I are profoundly saddened and disappointed by the decision, and how it will impact abuse survivors in New Hampshire. While the Manchester Diocese and the perpetrators under its authority may have averted responsibility for their vile misdeeds today, our voices will not be silenced. Our advocacy will continue as we pursue a path by which all survivors of sexual abuse in New Hampshire may obtain justice,” Thomas and Ball said in a statement shared with InDepthNH.org.
Ball filed his lawsuit against the diocese in 2023, decades after his claim expired under New Hampshire’s old statute of limitations law. However, the Legislature changed the law in 2020 to give victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to bring lawsuits.
But the Court ruled the 2020 statute of limitations change does not apply to Ball, or any victim whose claim already expired under the old limits. New Hampshire’s Constitution prohibits the retroactive application of new laws, meaning that the 2020 law cannot revive Ball’s claim that expired in 1986, the Court ruled.
The Court wrote it understands the decision will have negative consequences for victims of childhood sexual abuse, but the Constitutional right to a statute of limitations defense is immovable.
“We are acutely aware that victims of child sex abuse are some of the most vulnerable victims who deserve all of the protections and remedies available in our judicial system. Further, we recognize that the result here may prevent some victims who have been impacted by sex abuse — during childhood or adulthood — from bringing claims when the statute of limitations has expired before the effective date of RSA 508:4-g [the statute of limitations change.] Our role, however, in our co-equal, tripartite form of government is to interpret the constitution and resolve disputes arising under it,” the Court wrote.
The Court’s ruling was written by Associate Justice Patrick Donovan, and concurred by associate justices Melissa Countway and Bryan Gould. Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, who represented the Diocese as a private attorney, was disqualified from the case.
Associate Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi was on leave due to the criminal case against her when Ball’s appeal was brought to the Court, and her substitute, Superior Court Judge Charles Temple, did not participate in the deliberations.
Olivia Bensinger, the attorney representing the Diocese, said Wednesday’s ruling protects all New Hampshire citizens from the prospect of trying to defend against claims that are decades old.
“As the statute of limitations law recognizes, a lawsuit concerning a report of abuse that is many years old can be difficult, if not impossible, to defend because witnesses and evidence may no longer remain available. In this case, the report was made 50 years later, and the accused priest died in 2002,” Bensinger said in a statement provided to InDepthNH.org.
Since its own reckoning with the sexual abuse scandal in the early 2000’s, the Manchester Diocese has made strides in protecting children and assisting victims, according to Bensinger.
Many of the new protections for children, as well as the new support programs for victims, are the result of a 2002 agreement with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, however. Under that deal, the state agreed not to charge Bishop John McCormack for covering up the sex abuse committed by New Hampshire priests, and McCormack agreed to publicly acknowledge the Church harmed children by allowing abusive priests to move around from parish to parish.
Dowd escaped the fallout from the sex abuse scandal with his 2002 death, though his career illustrates the corruption and cover up, according to court records.
Dowd was the priest in charge of the diocese’s Camp Fatima and Camp Bernadette for decades despite serious red flags. Dowd was promoted by the diocese in 1971 to be the camp director, after a prior sexual assault complaint at St. Bernard Parish in Keene where Dowd was accused of abusing a 16-year-old boy.
During Dowd’s leadership at Camp Fatima the summer camp became an abyss of child sex abuse, according to court records, with multiple priests and religious staffers raping the boys.
“Several other boys who attended Camp Fatima alleged that Dowd sexually abused them, including one man who alleged he was abused more than 100 times before 1975. The abuse was so pervasive at the Camp that one former camper stated, ‘it was nothing to see somebody take a little kid, go into a cabin, [and] close all the shutters,’” court records state.
Despite the abuse taking place at the camps, Dowd was the camp director until 1990. Several former campers came forward after he died to publicly speak out against the rampant abuse and file a class action lawsuit. That lawsuit was later settled out of court.
New Hampshire
N.H. lawmakers to vote on increasing tolls, civil rights, and k-12 education – The Boston Globe
One proposal (Senate Bill 627) would generate more than $53 million per year in estimated revenue for turnpike projects by essentially doubling what certain cars pay on the state’s toll roads.
The cash fare for Hampton’s main toll booth on Interstate 95, for example, would jump from $2 to $4 for cars and pickup trucks. The toll wouldn’t increase at all for motorists who use New Hampshire’s E-ZPass transponders.
“Surrounding states already have the same in-state discount structure in place,” Democratic Representative Martin Jack of Nashua wrote on behalf of a House committee that unanimously recommended the bill.
A potential hitch: Governor Kelly Ayotte. She’s expressed opposition to the whole toll-hiking idea, and proven she’s not afraid to use her veto pen.
Modifying civil rights standard
Another proposal (Senate Bill 464) would add a few words to the state’s Civil Rights Act. Instead of addressing conduct that is merely “motivated by” a legally protected characteristic, the proposed revision would address conduct that is “substantially motivated by hostility towards the victim’s” protected characteristic (such as their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability).
The prime sponsor, Republican Senator Daryl Abbas, an attorney, testified the change was small and aligned with the law’s intent. But the attorney who oversees the Civil Rights Unit at the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Sean Locke, testified in opposition, saying the proposal could reduce protections, especially since the meaning of “substantially” is somewhat vague.
The House is also weighing a proposed amendment that would add a few more words than Abbas’s version, potentially narrowing the Civil Rights Act’s applicability a bit further.
Open enrollment for K-12 schools
A third proposal up for a vote on Thursday (Senate Bill 101) would make every K-12 public school in New Hampshire an “open enrollment” school. That way, students could freely choose to transfer to a district other than the one where they live.
The proposed policy is controversial, partly because of how schools are funded. Districts rely mostly on local property taxes to cover their costs, as the state government chips in relatively little, and property tax rates vary widely from one community to the next. That generates concern about who will foot the bill when a student transfers.
In light of those concerns, Republicans are offering a compromise amendment to SB 101 that would require the state to provide more money per pupil that a district receives via open enrollment, as the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Democrats are offering their own amendment to establish a study commission on this topic, rather than adopt the proposed policy now.
Lawmakers have until May 14 to take action on the bills that came from the other chamber, though they have until June 4 to iron out any discrepancies.
Amanda Gokee of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
Boston MedFlight often touches down at the scene of some of the worst tragedies in New England – where minutes can mean life or death for a victim. The critical care transport operation is now expanding with a new base in New Hampshire.
The organization is hosting an open house at the new Manchester location on Thursday.
Boston MedFlight flies a critical care transport paramedic and nurse on every flight. Jaik Hanley-McCarthy says their helicopters and ground vehicles are equipped to handle just about any emergency medical procedure.
“Anything that can be done in the ICU,” explained Hanley-McCarthy. “We have a mobile lab so we can draw blood and run labs in real time.”
Boston MedFlight now has five bases across the region.
“Having a base in Manchester just expands this Boston-level care even further north to the more remote areas of the state,” said Hanley-McCarthy.
Boston MedFlight operates as a network of bases and some of the locations are staffed 24 hours.
Chief Executive Officer Maura Hughes says the nonprofit operation survives on public and private donations.
“We provide about $7 million in free care every year to patients,” said Hughes. “Not every hospital can be everything to every patient. We’re really the glue that keeps the health care system together.”
Heather Young says her daughter, Teighan, is still alive because she was flown for a critical assessment and procedure after falling off a truck and hitting her head.
“She should not be driving and walking and talking and all the things she’s doing as quickly as she is,” said Young.
Teighan just turned 18 and plans to go to college to study the medical field.
“I want to be a nurse and help other people,” she said.
It’s stories like this that keep the men and women who work Boston MedFlight focused on their mission.
“I think we just go call by call and try to do the best we can,” said Hanley-McCarthy. “I think when we stop and truly think about it, I think that weight is pretty heavy.”
Boston MedFlight also has a yearly reunion where patients and the team get together here in Bedford to meet and check in on their progress. It really shows you how connected they are to the people they help.
New Hampshire
Hiker who set out in warm spring weather found dead after snowstorm in New Hampshire mountains
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A Massachusetts hiker who set out in warm spring weather was found dead deep in New Hampshire’s White Mountains after a snowstorm dumped several inches of snow in the area, authorities said.
Kent Wood, 61, of West Roxbury, was discovered Tuesday evening on a remote section of the Kinsman Pond Trail in Franconia Notch, about 5.5 miles from his vehicle, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game.
Wood had driven to Franconia Notch on April 17 for a weekend camping and hiking trip, and set out on a hike the next morning in warm, clear weather, officials said. Family and friends last heard from him Saturday afternoon.
When he failed to return or make contact for two days, officials said relatives reported him missing Tuesday morning, prompting a large-scale search.
HIKER IDENTIFIED, POPULAR TRAIL CLOSED AFTER DEADLY FALL A UTAH’S ZION NATIONAL PARK
An aerial view of Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire, where a hiker was found dead on Tuesday. (Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group, File)
Rescuers quickly learned Wood had packed for mild conditions, not the three to five inches of snow that fell in the area between Sunday and Monday.
Fog hovers over a narrow road through Franconia Notch in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire on Dec. 27, 2021. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis)
Search teams from Fish and Game, PEMI Valley Search and Rescue, and the Army National Guard launched a coordinated effort, focusing on the Lonesome Lake and Kinsman Pond areas.
FAMILY’S SPRING BREAK HIKE TURNS INTO LIFE-OR-DEATH RESCUE AFTER PARENT FALLS 70 FEET OFF UTAH CLIFF
Conservation officers located Wood’s body around 7:41 p.m. Tuesday. Crews carried him out overnight, reaching the trailhead shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Franconia Notch and the Appalachian Trail are seen in New Hampshire on Sept. 21. (Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
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Since Friday, six hikers from Massachusetts have been rescued in the White Mountains, Fish and Game said.
Officials are reminding hikers that winter conditions still grip the mountains, with snow, freezing temperatures and rapidly changing weather.
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