Douglas Frechette answered every question from his young family member, no matter how inappropriate. He demonstrated, on his person and with pornographic videos, the differences between a child’s body and an adult’s.
That was the extent of the wrongdoing he admitted to in an interview with Hillsboro Police leading up to his arrest and the arrest of his wife, Kimberly Frechette, last week, according to court documents.
He told authorities their underage family member was “never forced to do anything,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Authorities disagree.
The couple, both 51-year-old residents of Lempster, were charged with numerous counts related to multiple sexual assaults, among them aggravated felonious sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. The victim, who reported the assaults to police in August, estimates the abuse lasted from ages six to 16 and occurred in four towns: Hillsboro, Weare, Henniker and Dunbarton.
While Frechette dismissed the abuse as “nothing serious” in an interview with Hillsboro Police, an arrest affidavit documented an escalating pattern of abuse that, at times, involved both Frechette and his wife.
In a forensic interview with the Hillsborough County Advocacy Center, the victim, now an adult, detailed repeated assaults that occurred at the family’s former home in Dunbarton and at a campground in Weare.
Frechette said he and the victim “would just play with each other” and the episodes could happen “wherever we happen to be,” according to the arrest affidavit.
In a statement on Friday, Henniker Police commended the victim, who was a vulnerable child.
“It is unimaginable the courage it took to come forward and report these crimes,” the department said.
The arrests were the result of a multi-agency investigation by Dunbarton, Hillsboro and Henniker police.
Both Douglas and Kimberly Frechette are being held without bail in Merrimack County Jail.
