The Youth Development Center

Season 1

1. Introducing: The Youth Development Center Trailer

   Show notes

   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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   Jun 4, 2024 5 min

2. The Black Box

   Episode 1

   Show notes

   For three decades, Andy Perkins didn’t talk about what happened to him at a place called YDC – the Youth Development Center. Then, he saw something on the news, and he realized he wasn’t the only person with a story about YDC. Andy gives us a rare glimpse into the black box of the juvenile justice system.

   If you have suffered abuse and need someone to talk to, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. If you’re in a mental health crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8.

   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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   Jun 26, 2024 34 min

3. If You Let a Dog Bite You

   Episode 2

   Show notes

   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 with The Pudding.

   If you have suffered abuse and need someone to talk to, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. If you’re in a mental health crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8.

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

   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

   Jun 26, 2024 37 min

4. Sober Algebra

   Episode 3

   Show notes

   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 1-800-656-4673. If you’re in a mental health crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8.

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

   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

   Jun 26, 2024 37 min

1. Introducing: Not Just A Terrible Story Bonus

   Show notes

   Not Just A Terrible Story is an investigative series that follows Stacie Love, a woman who married her high school English teacher after graduation. Two decades later, she begins piecing together what really happened at Centennial high School: why federal agents knocked on their door, why her now ex-husband actually lost his teaching license, and the culture of complicity that let educator sexual misconduct go unchecked.

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   Oct 21, 2026 4 min