West Alton Marina hit with sixth lawsuit

ALTON — A sixth suit has been filed against West Alton Marina by the mother of a former teenage employee, alleging her son was repeatedly sexually assaulted.

The case was filed in Belknap Superior Court on Monday by a woman under the pseudonym Jane Doe on behalf of Jack Doe. The suit identifies Jane Doe as the “parent and next friend” of Jack, who worked at the marina from 2019 to 2021.

The complaint states the alleged victim was sexually assaulted by John Murray, the marina’s former manager, starting in 2020, and by Brian Fortier, one of the marina’s owners, in 2021.

Both Murray and Fortier, who are married, have been indicted on sex assault charges and other crimes related to their alleged contact with under-age male employees at the marina.

As in the other civil suits, Deidre Tibbetts and Allyson Shea, sisters of Fortier and co-owners of the marina, are named as defendants, along with the business itself, West Alton Marina LLC.

The 18-page, nine-count complaint states Jack Doe started working at the marina in the summer of 2019 when he was 14 years old. Soon after starting work, Murray allegedly enticed Jack to confide in him, lent a sympathetic ear when Jack was “having troubles at home,” and provided him “with gifts and promises.”

The following summer, by which time Jack was 15 years old, Murray began to ask the boy for nude photos, and later explicit videos. Repeated assaults involving oral sex began occurring at about this time as well, the suit alleges.

Murray also paid Jack “bonuses” in return, the suit states.

Starting in the late fall or early winter of 2020 and continuing into the spring of 2021, Fortier engaged in oral sex with the boy, the suit alleges.

A call to the marina’s attorney, William Christie, seeking comment was not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

Jack’s employment at the marina ended in August 2021, at about the time that Murray was arrested on sexual assault charges.

The suit claims the boy has suffered physical and emotional harm that required him to seek mental health treatment which will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

The suit alleges Shea and Tibbetts either knew or should have known what was happening to the boy and that they did nothing to stop the behavior.

“The types of things that were done to Jack, have been occurring at the marina for many years,” the suit says.

The plaintiffs requested a $1 million attachment on the assets of the marina and its owners. Superior Court Judge Amy Ignatius granted the attachment Monday.