Teen Charged in Portsmouth Hate Graffiti Out of U.S. for 2 Years

The teen charged with vandalizing 18 Portsmouth businesses, houses of worship, and homes in February is out of the country on missionary work.

Loren Faulkner, who was 17 at the time, was charged in a civil complaint with twenty-two counts of violating the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act in connection with a series of spray-painted symbols of hate across the city in February and April of 2022.

Faulkner also made a video of himself denouncing Ukraine and its people while burning a stolen Ukranian flag. Formella said the video was sent to the entire Portsmouth High School sophomore class.

The Attorney General's office confirmed that a woman who identified herself as one of Faulkner's mothers told the court that he left the country in April to perform missionary work in Africa for two years. Faulkner was charged on April 27. It was not disclosed when he left the country.

The teen will be able to complete his missionary work with a trial scheduled to begin in April 2024.

An attorney for Faulkner told the court that immaturity played a part in the reason for the vandalism spree. Assistant Attorney General Sean Locke told WMUR, which was first to report about the missionary project, he doesn't necessarily agree.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH