After three days of testimony over whether Douglas Frechette sexually abused his son over ten years, the jury went into deliberations on Friday to decide whether the evidence was enough to find him guilty.
On Friday, the fourth day of the trial at Merrimack County Superior Court, prosecutors and defense attorneys used their closing arguments to underscore pivotal witness testimony to make their respective cases to the jury.
The main witnesses were Frechette’s son, Joseph, now 24, who goes by Joey and accused his parents of abuse; Kimberly Frechette, Joseph’s mother; and Frechette himself.
Jeremy Clemans, Frechette’s attorney, said it raises reasonable doubt that Joseph did not report the alleged abuse to anyone in authority until 2025, and that the first person he told was his probation officer.
“In 10 years, he didn’t say one word to a friend, to a teacher, to a teammate, to a coach. They didn’t notice anything,” Clemans said, standing before the jury. “Not at six. Not at nine. Not at 12. Not at 15.”
Douglas Frechette, 52, faces multiple charges, including aggravated felonious sexual assault. The trial was detailed and graphic as attorneys questioned the witnesses.
The abuse is alleged to have occurred at various homes and campgrounds across New Hampshire, including in Dunbarton, Henniker, Hillsborough, New Boston, and Weare.
Clemans said that Joseph’s account is false, that his father confessed because of hostile police interrogations, and that his mother agreed to testify to get a plea deal.
Jeffrey Tynes, prosecutor for the state, pushed back on those claims.
“Three people inventing the same series of stories. Is it reasonable for them to all come up with a similar fact pattern on the same individual?” Tynes said.
The defense questioned whether Kimberly Frechette’s testimony could be trusted. She was arrested last year and pleaded guilty to sexual assault, incest and child endangerment involving Joseph.
On Tuesday, she testified that she agreed to take the stand as part of a plea deal that could reduce her sentence from a decade in prison to as little as three years. The defense asked the jury to consider whether her account was voluntary and truthful or under pressure to secure a lighter sentence.
When police interrogated her, Kimberly Frechette said she did not remember having any sexual contact with Joseph. However, Joseph testified that his father forced him to have sex with his mother at least four times.
“I believe Joey; if Joey told the police that’s what happened,” Kimberly Frechette said, fighting back tears as Clemans asked why she pleaded guilty to incidents she couldn’t remember. “I deserved to be punished.”
Douglas Frechette’s own words presented another hurdle. During questioning by police, he admitted to sexually abusing his son. His attorneys said that was a “false confession”, offered only because he had been held for hours and wanted to go home.
“He said Joey was sexually charged. He needed to be dialed back. He wanted to protect him. He didn’t want him to get AIDS or sleep with a bunch of girls at school,” said Jeffrey Tynes, the attorney for the state.
Tynes said police did not feed these comments to Douglas Frechette.
The jury will consider 13 different charges against Frechette, including endangering the welfare of a child, sexual abuse of a minor, assault, and incest.
The Concord Monitor does not name victims of sexual abuse without their consent.
