YDC Fraud follows a long history and it always involves the same lawyers

Editor's Note: The following is an opinion piece submitted to us. We welcome further submissions here.

Chris Thomson’s Op-Ed "YDC Lawsuits: The most disturbing case of fraud ever seen in NH” was a welcome fresh take on the YDC cases. I noticed David Vicinanzo’s comment under it. He is one of the lead attorneys suing the State. He doth protest too much. He was a federal prosecutor in Concord in the 1990s when the majority of the abuse at YDC allegedly took place.

There were complaints made at the time and there was news media attention given to these. For him to claim that he had no knowledge, is laughable. The US Attorney’s office for which he was a federal prosecutor, is far too cosy with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and that NH AG’s office is far too cosy with David Vicinanzo. I discovered this when I received Right to Know emails from the AG’s office regarding the Grand Jury Criminal Investigation into St Paul’s School which was lobbied for by Vicinanzo’s pro bono client, the NHCADSV. Within those emails, I found one from Assistant AG Jane Young to David Vicinanzo stating that it was the position of the AG’s office that he had a conflict of interests in the St Paul’s School cases because he represented “most, if not all” of the administrators who were being summoned before the Grand Jury as well as “E” who I believe to be “E.W.” - a 15 year old girl whose mother complained to Concord Police and the school about an unlawful sexual relationship perpetrated by Andrew Thomson, a key witness in the Owen Labrie criminal trial which triggered the Grand Jury investigation. What else did I discover? A letter and motions from David Vicinanzo to Merrimack County Prosecutor Catherine Ruffle and AG Gordon MacDonald (his former partner at Nixon Peabody where they represented the Diocese of Manchester for hundreds of claims against it - all settled out of court with NDAs) begging for the Grand Jury Criminal Investigation Report into St Paul’s School not to be made public. Yes. It was David Vicinanzo who never wanted the Grand Jury report on St Paul’s School made public and it was his client, the NHCADSV, who got a contract out of it. Additionally, I discovered that the NHCADSV, Chuck Douglas, Gordon MacDonald, Jane Young and Concord Mayor Jim Bouley, were having secret meetings at Chuck Douglas’ office to push through “Marsy’s Law” - a so-called “victims rights law” which has been widely criticised nationwide for getting rid of due process. Who paid them for this initiative? The man behind Marsy’s Law: Henry T Nicholas III - who was given an Alford plea for drug trafficking in Las Vegas; who was sued for $70 million for battery; who kept an underground lair for his sex and drug activities which he hid from his wife and children.

David Vicinanzo’s client, Amanda Grady Sexton of the NHCADSV, was paid $48,000 by Henry T Nicholas III and Chuck Douglas was paid $17,000. But neither of them declared it as required under NH Lobby laws. If you are a claimant of YDC abuse, the AG’s office refers you to the NHCADSV who refer you to their pro bono attorney: David Vicinanzo and their other pro bono attorneys: Shaheen & Gordon; and their friend Chuck Douglas, Chair of the judicial selection committee. The NHCADSV is 100% funded by federal grants and state budget. It is prohibited from using federal grants for lobbying. But thanks to its lobbying, the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims were lifted, allowing the claims against the State for YDC abuse to go forward. Coincidentally, it has been conveniently forgotten that the NHCADSV is supposed to be preventing rape in prisons, jails & the state’s youth detention centers under the Prison Rape Elimination Act. From my research, their pretrial publicity painting youths as rapists without any proof or evidence, contributes to these youths getting raped, starved, beaten.

If any of them actually cared about children in schools, youth detention centers, they would be seeking a Grand Jury into what happened at YDC. But they won’t. Why not? That cosy relationship with the DCYF, AG’s office and PD. Wouldn’t want the truth of the cover ups, blackmail deals, secret arrangements getting exposed and for the money they have all enjoyed, to dry up. Claire Best is a film & TV agent and a documentary filmmaker. As a result of investigating NH v Owen Labrie, she uncovered a web of public corruption in New Hampshire.