Woman Says Prov Rec Head Charged With Molestation “Sexually Inappropriate” at Prior Job With Youth
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
A woman who was under the supervision of Manuel “Manny” Nunez in a state-affiliated program for troubled youth is alleging he preyed on vulnerable teens.
Pawtucket resident Ash Barboza told GoLocal in an exclusive interview that she is “not surprised” that Nunez was arrested this week.
On Monday, GoLocal first broke that Nunez, a Providence Recreation Center Director, was charged by Providence Police with child molestation involving a juvenile under 14.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHe has now been fired.
Barboza said that Nunez had her sit in his lap when she was just 13 and he was over ten years her senior, working at the North American Family Institute (NAFI) program at Butler Hospital.
According to Barboza, Nunez was tasked at the facility with “forcibly restraining” females between 11 and 17 — including herself — which she said led to her retaliating with an assault on Nunez that landed her in jail.
“I thought I left that chapter behind me. I tucked it away in a closet,” said Barbazo, who said she is one of the “few girls who made it out.”
She is now 30, works as an EMT, and has a daughter.
“But when I saw the story [on GoLocal], my mom said I should talk,” she said.
Allegations of Abuse
Barboza said she ended up at the NAFI program at Butler -- a “step down from the training school” — for anger and mental health issues, after she said she had been sexually abused by family members growing up.
She was there from age 13 through 17.
“Manny, he was very good looking,” said Barboza. “I remember specifically — I have messages from other staff — that they felt uncomfortable around him. It’s sad people knew something was wrong.”
“He’d walk around, he was a basketball person — he did football games — he would purposely wear sweats with wife beaters, and short-shorts with his “package” swinging around. He was definitely inappropriate with plenty of young girls. He made it look like he was supportive, but he wasn’t,” she said. “We all knew about Manny.”
“One time he had me sit on his lap in the gym area,” said Barboza. “He never touched me or anything of that nature, but he was definitely inappropriate.”
Barboza said that Nunez was then assigned as her one-on-one supervisor — and things escalated physically from there.
“A lot of girls in that program, they were already sexually active, some had been working as prostitutes,” she said. “Due to my abuse, you could say I was a violent little tomboy. I didn’t have sex until I was 18.”
Barboza decried the practice of NAFI allowing males to use full-body restraints on juvenile females.
“He liked to do that. Hold down girls legs, lie across them,” said Barboza. “How do you think a girl who has been sexually abused, who has been raped, or has been a prostitute, is going to react?”
Barboza said after one violent episode, she assaulted Nunez, and was placed briefly in jail.
“Look, I’m a pretty girl — I’ve modeled. He goes for that age group. He knew which girls to go after. He went for the girls from the hood,” she said.
“No One Cares About The Children”
Barboza said she was “saddened” by what she said was the knowledge by staff of Nunez’ behavior at NAFI — which receives funding from the Department of Youth, Children, and Families — but that “no one did anything”
“The staff was so young. No degrees, no mental health training. The dynamics of the flirting, putting the kids on meds — I used to hide them and then they made me take them,” she said. “My issue is with the whole system."
“He was just one of the many. Imagine how many other girls this happened to? There’s way more than just me. He’s been working with youth like this all over as his cover," said Barboza.
“My problem is with DCYF as a whole. How was this allowed to go on? Who are the advocates for the kids? There were kids in there who were liars, kids who were doing the abusing themselves. Who was going to believe me?” she said.
“If children don’t matter to people, then humanity is just what these children think it is — evil,” she said.
Representatives from NAFI and DCYF did not respond to request for comment on Tuesday.
