Fellow Republicans Take Aim at Kelly Ayotte for Her Alleged Role in Abuse Cover Up Scandal at Youth Center

Fellow Republicans Take Aim at Kelly Ayotte for Her Alleged Role in Abuse Cover Up Scandal at Youth Center

There’s growing dissatisfaction with Kelly Ayotte’s alleged role in covering up the scandal of child abuse at the Sununu Youth Development Center from her time serving as Attorney General, even among her fellow Republicans.

While Ayotte has previously denied any knowledge of the abuse, a new report from the Granite Post reveals “Ayotte’s office did in fact have exposure to abuse allegations while she was in office,” and that “the results of Ayotte’s office’s investigation found no wrongdoing or abuse had occurred, an outcome challenged by the DRC.”

Speakers at a recent event “accused Ayotte of either being aware of the abuse happening at the facility — which included rape and beatings of residents — or grossly negligent in her duties during her time as Attorney General.” One victim claimed to be “beaten, raped and held in solitary confinement as a teen.”

As the Granite Post points out, this is “not the first time Ayotte has turned a blind eye towards abuse of minors,” referencing Ayotte’s connection to state Rep. Jon Stone, who “allegedly carried on a relationship with a minor after a police disciplinary reports were made public.” Stone then “threatened to kill fellow police officers in a shooting spree, and murder his chief after raping the chief’s wife and children.” 

New reporting from InDepthNH reveals Stone was fired from a different job for allegedly “using racist, sexist, and homophobic insults, intimidating co-workers and making them fear his retaliation, and even getting a gay colleague to quit.” Despite Stone’s long history of violent and extreme rhetoric, Ayotte has continued to accept his support: his name is still listed on the endorsement page on her website, and posts of them campaigning together are still live on her social media.

“Kelly Ayotte once again has been lying to New Hampshire families, this time claiming she knew nothing about Granite State kids being subject to abuse, but this report makes clear that was never true,” said DGA States Press Secretary Emma O’Brien. “ If Ayotte couldn’t be honest with Granite Staters during her time as Attorney General, why should Granite Staters trust her as governor? They can’t. Kelly Ayotte needs to come clean and explain why she didn’t do her job to keep New Hampshire kids safe, and then tried to cover it up.

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