Connect with us

New Hampshire

NH Supreme Court Rules Against Church Sex Abuse Victim

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

“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. 



Source link

Advertisement

New Hampshire

Missing motorcyclist found dead after crash in Shelburne, NH

Published

on

Missing motorcyclist found dead after crash in Shelburne, NH


A New Hampshire motorcyclist who had been missing since the Fourth of July was found dead in Shelburne late Thursday night.

State police say they received a request from the Berlin Police Department just after 7:30 p.m. Thursday for help locating 41-year-old Wesley Grondin — the Berlin man was last seen riding his motorcycle on Saturday, July 4, and had been reported missing.

Troopers received a call a couple of hours later, around 10:10 p.m. Thursday, from a concerned resident who had been out looking for Grondin along Route 2 in Shelburne. The person told police they had found Grondin dead, along with his Harley Davidson.

According to state police, a preliminary investigation determined that Grondin was riding his Harley on Route 2 westbound in Shelburne when, for reasons that remain under investigation, he crossed over into the opposing lane, struck a post, and came to a final rest in the wood line.

Advertisement

The crash is believed to have occurred just before midnight on July 4. At this time, police say there’s no indication that another vehicle or person was involved.

All aspects of the crash remain under investigation, however. Anyone with information that may assist investigators is asked to contact Trooper Hunter Newsham at Hunter.P.Newsham@dos.nh.gov.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

New Hampshire

Nashua, NH, woman jailed for falsifying marriage to claim late man’s estate

Published

on

Nashua, NH, woman jailed for falsifying marriage to claim late man’s estate


KEENE, N.H. — A Nashua woman who had a town clerk falsely certify a marriage that never happened so she could claim her late partner’s property has been sentenced to seven days in jail, placed on probation and ordered to repay thousands to his estate.

Attorney General John Formella said Wendy Leedberg‑Snow, 60, turned to Winchester Town Clerk Jim Tetreault after the death of her longtime partner, Eric Leedberg — who was born in Lowell — using the falsified license to pose as his spouse and lay claim to property from his estate, an effort prosecutors describe as an attempt to rewrite the couple’s history for financial gain.

“This case involved a deliberate effort to manipulate official government records and exploit the death of a loved one for personal financial gain,” Formella said in a press release announcing the sentencing. “Our vital records system depends on honesty and integrity, and those who seek to corrupt that system will be held accountable. I want to thank the investigators and prosecutors whose work ensured justice for the victim’s family.”

According to Leedberg’s obituary, he was 53 when he died on Oct. 12, 2023, following a two‑year battle with cancer.

Advertisement

In the obituary, Leedberg-Snow is described as his “significant other.”

Prosecutors said Leedberg‑Snow moved quickly after his death, relying on Tetreault’s signature to fabricate a marriage that never occurred and position herself as Leedberg’s surviving spouse.

Tetreault, who was a New Hampshire justice of the peace at the time, falsely signed the marriage license claiming he had officiated the couple’s wedding. He later admitted he never performed any ceremony for Leedberg‑Snow and Leedberg and had no personal knowledge of them ever being married.

Leedberg‑Snow used the fraudulent certificate to obtain property from Leedberg’s estate, including a pickup truck and trailer, and later attempted to influence a witness connected to the scheme.

Leedberg‑Snow pleaded guilty in Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene to felony counts of solicitation to commit vital records fraud, title fraud, theft by misapplication of property and witness tampering.

Advertisement

In addition to her seven‑day jail term, she must serve two years of probation, pay $4,600 in restitution, return the truck and trailer to Leedberg’s estate and comply with a suspended three‑and‑a‑half‑ to seven‑year prison sentence, which means the sentence only takes effect if she violates the conditions of her probation.

Tetreault, who continues to serve as Winchester’s town clerk and “fully cooperated with the State’s investigation,” according to prosecutors, pleaded guilty in April to notarial misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor. As part of a negotiated plea, prosecutors dropped a felony charge of vital records fraud. He was sentenced to 90 days in the house of corrections, all suspended for two years on good behavior, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine plus a $240 penalty assessment.

He resigned his commissions as a justice of the peace and bail commissioner and agreed not to seek recommissioning as a justice of the peace or notary public during the two‑year suspension period.

Tetreault could not be reached for comment at his office number.

Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

New Hampshire

Rescue Crews Help Injured Woman Off Mt. Washington

Published

on

Rescue Crews Help Injured Woman Off Mt. Washington


SARGENT’S PURCHASE – On Saturday, personnel from multiple rescue crews teamed up to help an injured woman get off of Mt. Washington to seek medical treatment.

At approximately 7:45 AM, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers were notified that a staff member at the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Lakes of the Clouds Hut had taken a serious fall at the hut and was left unable to walk.

Fish and Game subsequently mobilized search and rescue personnel to come and help evacuate the young woman from her remote location.

By 10:00 AM, members of the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team (AVSAR), Pemigewassett Valley Search and Rescue Team (Pemi), AMC and Fish and Game had gathered at the Base Station of the Cog Rail. The Cog Railway generously donated room on their trains, and rescuers and equipment were given rides up Mt. Washington to the West Side Trail, which allowed for a shorter and less strenuous 1.6 mile hike than other routes.

Advertisement

By 11:20 AM rescuers were at the hut with the patient. The patient was subsequently packaged in a litter and prepared for an overland carryout back to the Cog tracks.

Rescue personnel made steady progress, and by 2:15 PM had made it back across West Side Trail and to the train tracks. A Cog Railway train picked up the whole rescue party and brought everyone back down the mountain. Once roadside, the patient was evaluated by personnel from Twin Mountain Fire and Rescue.

She was ultimately driven from the scene by a friend and went to Memorial Hospital in North Conway for further evaluation
and treatment of multiple injuries related to her fall. The patient was identified as Cali Turner, 26, of Willimantic, Maine.

Fish and Game would like to thank all of the people and organizations involved in this rescue effort. Through the help of everyone, the rescue was a great success and got done in a timely manner.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending