N.H. probes boy’s near-hanging

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has directed the state Attorney General’s office to join a hate crime investigation in Claremont, N.H., after an 8-year-old boy was hospitalized with rope burns on his neck from an alleged hanging incident involving other boys.

Sununu said in a statement: “Yesterday on my instruction, the Attorney General’s office sent a team to Claremont to provide assistance. It is my expectation that local and state authorities will investigate appropriately and I’ve asked for regular updates on how things are proceeding. Hatred and bigotry will not be tolerated in New Hampshire.”

The 8-year-old biracial boy was pushed off of a picnic table Aug. 28 with a rope around his neck, and taunted with racial slurs by a group of teenagers, according to the child’s family, which released photos showing the boy’s injured neck. The family said following the near-hanging the boy was treated and released from a hospital.

“The investigation revealed that an 8 yearold child was injured while he was on private property off of North Street in Claremont, N.H.,” police said in a statement. “Claremont Police detectives assigned to this case are taking all steps possible to investigate the incident and have been doing so since the police became involved in this matter in late August. The investigation principally revolves around the conduct of people who are 14 years-of-age or younger.”

The boy’s grandmother, Lorrie Slattery, told the Valley News newspaper the children were in a backyard when some of the teens got on the table and grabbed a rope that held a tire swing. It’s not clear how the rope got around her grandson’s neck, but Slattery said the teens pushed him off the table. No adults are believed to have witnessed the incident.

An expert on abuse who spoke to the boy at the hospital said he swung from his neck three times before being able to remove the rope, Slattery said. None of the teens came to his aid, she said.

“One boy said ... ‘Let’s do this,’ and then pushed him off the picnic table and hung him,” Slattery said.