Brigette Honaker  |  November 18, 2022

Category: Legal News

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boys and girls playing in a park

Dozens of organizations for children — athletic, religious, recreational, and more — have faced public and legal scrutiny in recent years, with allegations of child sexual abuse and cover-ups that have reportedly left thousands of kids across decades recovering from trauma into adulthood.

The Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA) is one of the organizations named in abuse-related litigation.

The Boys and Girls Club is an after-school program that seeks to help troubled youth through group activities and by giving them a sense of belonging. It has also been the subject of multiple lawsuits by former participants who say they suffered child sexual abuse at the hands of Boys and Girls Club adult volunteers.

What instances of BGCA abuse have been reported?

Along with other organizations created for and designed to help at-risk youth, individual chapters of the Boys and Girls Clubs have been named in sexual abuse lawsuits in recent years.

Instances of specific claims and abuse throughout the organization have been reported by the news media across the country. Some cases involve allegations against one staff member, while others involve allegations of multiple abusers, as well as clubs shirking their duties to report sexual assault or abuse.

Newspapers have collectively reported on hundreds of allegations against the Boys and Girls Club of America, and a few news organizations have conducted investigations to uncover the scope of the problem.

Hearst Connecticut Media, a group of 22 daily and weekly newspapers in Connecticut, undertook the largest of those investigations and published its findings in a series of articles in the fall of 2019, according to Poynter.

All told, the journalists reportedly uncovered more than 100 cases of alleged sexual abuse in Boys and Girls clubs in 35 states.

What did the Boys and Girls Club investigation find?

By August 2019 reporters had discovered 250 alleged victims who claim to have been sexually abused by Boys and Girls Club of America employees, volunteers, and other members when they were children — some as young as 6 years old, according to the Connecticut Post, one of the key newspapers involved in the Hearst investigation.

By September 2020, those numbers had grown to 351 victims in 35 states.

The more than 100 cases reporters found included criminal convictions as well as civil lawsuits, according to the Post.

Court records showed some of the children faced the abuse for years, while others were abused in isolated situations such as sleepovers or trips, the Post reported. Club directors, coaches, and volunteers were accused, as well as some minors.

In reviewing criminal and civil court documents, stretching back as far as the 1970s, the investigative team found civil lawsuits filed by former Boys and Girls Club members who insisted club officials knew about the abuse but failed to act on it or report it to the police. Others accused individual clubs of not following the national organization’s safety guidelines and of being lax with background checks on the adults they allowed to work with children.

How many BGCA abuse lawsuits have survivors filed?

Boys and Girls Clubs of America told the Connecticut Post it doesn’t track allegations of child sex abuse at its 4,600 local clubs.

A young child holds their palm toward the camera while hiding their face - Boys and Girls Club of AmericaThat makes it difficult to determine the exact number of civil lawsuits and class action lawsuits that have been filed against the Boys and Girls Club of America and its individual but affiliated, member clubs.

By March 2019, a slew of allegations of childhood sexual abuse had been leveled in lawsuits against Boys and Girls clubs in Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, Virginia, Illinois, Oregon, Nevada, California, and Hawaii, according to The Associated Press.

One such lawsuit claimed sexual abuse has occurred at clubs throughout the United States since 2000 and accused the Boys and Girls Club of America of failing to uniformly implement precautionary measures against abuse at its facilities, the AP reported.

Since the Hearst investigation went public, at least 10 new lawsuits have been filed over abuse dating back decades within the organization, according to CT Insider.

Four of the lawsuits were brought by 41 men alleging that they were sexually abused as children in the then–Syracuse Boys Club in New York in the 1960s and 1970s. A different set of allegations arose against an employee of the New York BGCA in the 1980s.

Many victims of childhood sexual abuse have only begun coming forward in recent months because several states have introduced expanded statutes of limitations and look-back windows, allowing victims of abuse that occurred years or even decades ago to come forward and pursue litigation.

Current BGCA lawsuits

Survivors who say they were sexually abused at Boys and Girls Clubs have filed several lawsuits against the organization.

The organization’s Greenwich location faces four lawsuits alleging children were sexually abused that may be consolidated into one action against the local club, according to Greenwich Time. Six boys were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse by an employee between 1976 and 1984.

The complaint contends the boys reported the abuse to other employees and even the director of the local BGCA club but they were ignored, Greenwich Time reported.

Judge John F. Kavanewsky found that the local club had failed to properly train its staff, and also lacked a sufficient reporting system for abuse, calling it “very lax.”

According to another lawsuit, BGCA employees allegedly disregarded and even concealed reports of child sex abuse by another member of the Greenwich chapter, Greenwich Time reported.

The plaintiff says an adolescent counselor sexually assaulted him while he was taking part in programs at the BGCA. When he reported the assault to adult members of the Boys and Girls Club staff, he says they told him to keep quiet and even threatened him if he reported the abuse to anyone else.

Six lawsuits have reportedly been lodged against the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Fe, as well.

The lawsuits concern Louis Montaño, a former executive director of the club who went on to become the mayor of Santa Fe, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. The plaintiffs allege Montaño sexually abused them after a period of grooming and manipulation while he was BGCA director in the 1970s and 1980s.

History of the Boys and Girls Club of America

Now a national organization with chapters around the country, the Boys and Girls Club of America began in Connecticut’s capital, Hartford, in 1860, according to the organization’s website. It was started by a group of women there who observed the unsupervised young boys in their neighborhoods roaming the streets of town each day and thought they would benefit from organized activities. They decided to organize and formed the first club for them.

By 1931, clubs had opened in multiple states, prompting the formation of the national Boys Clubs of America. Slowly the clubs began to incorporate services for girls, too, and in 1990 the organization’s name was officially changed to reflect that, making it the Boys and Girls Club of America.

The Boys and Girls Club of America’s mission statement says the organization’s goal is “To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”

Today the Boys and Girls Club of America has 4,738 clubs working with 4.6 million kids in the U.S. through their signature “safe place” club facilities where children can come after school and on weekends for various programs and activities geared at helping them grow, develop and make friends with the help of adult staff members who act as mentors.

Signs of sexual abuse in children

Surviving assault is extremely damaging to a child’s psyche, according to The Nation Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). Children who experience sexual assault or abuse may experience the following problems in the aftermath of childhood sexual assault:

  • Nightmares, insomnia, and other sleeping-related issues
  • Withdrawn behavior
  • Anger and aggressive emotional outbursts
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Separation anxiety
  • Sexual knowledge that is inappropriate for a child’s age

Young children who have been traumatized by sexual abuse can have specific issues, including engaging in traumatic play, inappropriate sexual behavior with other children, oppositional or withdrawn behavior, nightmares, tantrums, and more.

Children may also describe their bodies as “hurt” or “dirty” in the aftermath of sexual abuse as they struggle to come to terms with their emotional trauma, according to NCTSN.

NCTSN says that “[a]buse is like a boomerang. If you don’t deal with it, it can come back to hurt you.” Unresolved sexual trauma can have a domino-like effect on a child’s development, leading to serious problems down the line.

As children grow into adolescence, these emotional struggles can put them at risk for substance abuse, indiscriminate sexual behavior, social withdrawal, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and other high-risk behaviors, according to NCTSN. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), interrupted personal relationships, and other consequences can also occur. Childhood sexual abuse has also been linked with other long-term health outcomes and early death.

Lack of trust in paternal figures may also be a factor that contributes to these long term consequences of childhood sexual abuse.

Children who participated in BGCA may be at risk for these and other issues if they are survivors of sexual abuse.

Filing a Boys and Girls Club sexual assault lawsuit

If you or your child has suffered from abuse through a Boys and Girls Club, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation.

Litigation cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by this kind of abuse, but it can at least provide some kind of compensation, as well as hold those responsible for this suffering accountable — including any organization that may have ignored, allowed, or even actively covered up the abuse.

Filing a lawsuit can be a daunting prospect, especially when dealing with a subject as traumatic as abuse, so Top Class Actions has laid the groundwork for you by connecting you with an experienced attorney. Consulting an attorney can help you determine if you have a claim, navigate the complexities of litigation, and maximize your potential compensation.

Join a BGCA sexual assault class action lawsuit investigation

If you were a victim of sexual misconduct by someone affiliated with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, you do not have to bear the burden alone.

Help hold perpetrators and those that abet them accountable for sexual assault. Submit your information now for a free case review.

If you qualify, an attorney will contact you to discuss further free of charge.

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