A former employee of a New York Boys & Girls Club sexually abused boys in his care in the 1980s and early 1990s, according to a Boys & Girls Club abuse lawsuit filed by four male plaintiffs, the CT Post reports.

The alleged abuser, James C., worked for years at the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester in Westchester County, N.Y., in a number of positions, including as a mentor and supervisor, giving him access to his young victims, according to the CT Post. In addition to the Boys & Girls Club, the lawsuit also names other organizations that allowed James to work with children, including several schools, a camp, and the Town of Mount Kisco, N.Y.

The Greenwich Time reports that at the time of the lawsuit, James continued to work with access to children as a bus driver and janitor at a school in Hawthorn, N.Y.

The plaintiffs ranged from 10 years old to teenagers when the alleged abuse occurred, according to the complaint. James engaged in repeated abuse and exploitation of minors, yet the organization failed to address concerns and allowed a predator to continue victimizing children for years, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit describes the defendant’s “grooming behaviors,” including giving gifts, treats, candy, and even alcohol, and providing special attention to his intended victims, all of which can function as signs of potential sexual abuse. According to the complaint, James targeted children from single-parent homes and other vulnerable situations.

“These warning signs, grooming behaviors, inappropriate time spent alone with Plaintiffs and not respecting boundaries with children were ignored by (the Boys & Girls Club), thus, creating the opportunity for abuse, resulting in failures to enforce proper boundaries and, instead, allowing [James] access to abuse children,” the lawsuit states.

In a press conference announcing the Boys & Girls Club lawsuit, an attorney for the plaintiffs said that “perpetrators of abuse of this magnitude never operate in a vacuum — they’re always assisted by the institutions that give them access to children, and this case is no different.”

The lawsuit comes in the midst of disturbing revelations about allegations of child sexual abuse at not only Boys & Girls Clubs, but the Roman Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, youth organizations, other religious institutions, and a number of educational and athletic organizations.

According to the Boys & Girls Club lawsuit, the organization and other defendants were negligent when it came to protecting kids in their care from sexual abuse committed by James C. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for this failure, along with attorney fees.

The Boys & Girls Club of America has faced both civil and criminal allegations that its staff sexually abused children in its programs. Hearst Connecticut Media broke the Boys & Girls Club scandal when it published its investigation into hundreds of sexual abuse claims allegedly committed over a span of decades. Alleged victims and advocates contend that the organization did not do enough to protect children in its care.

The Boys & Girls Club lawsuit was filed under New York’s Child Victims Act. The relatively new law gives survivors of child sexual assault more time to file legal action against their abusers and the institutions that may have turned a blind eye or failed to protect them and others. Child victims can file civil lawsuits in cases where the statute of limitations would have otherwise passed.

A number of states have changed their sexual abuse laws in recent years, many of which have opened look back windows to allow survivors with previously expired claims to pursue litigation, years or even decades after the fact.

Survivors say that the additional time to file claims over their experiences is necessary. “I was sexually abused as a 13-year-old boy and I didn’t realize it until I was 48-years-old,” a plaintiff in the Boys & Girls Club lawsuit said.

For its part, a representative of the Boys & Girls Club of Westchester told Greenwich Time that it’s aware of the pending lawsuit and are “deeply heartbroken” for children who have been harmed.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.