Top Class Actions  |  December 30, 2022

Category: Lawsuits to Join

YMCA and YWCA sexual abuse and assault allegations: Who’s affected?

Young girl stands outdoors facing a wall - ymca

(Photo credit: altanaka/DepositPhotos.com)

Were you or someone you love abused or assaulted by a YMCA or YWCA employee, volunteer, or member?

There has been a disturbing increase in nationwide reports of sexual assault.

While many reports involve religious organizations, other entities — such as the Young Men’s Christian Association (“YMCA”), the Young Women’s Christian Association (“YWCA”) and other popular youth organizations across the country — have also faced similar allegations of child sexual abuse.

A growing number of YWCA and YMCA lawsuits include the complaint that these organizations are failing to properly recognize and address abuse that takes place at their facilities and is committed by its leaders.

Do you qualify?

If you or someone you love was sexually abused and/or assaulted at a YMCA or YWCA, you may qualify for a free claim review to see if you can take legal action.

See if you qualify for a free case evaluation by filling out the form on this page.

Sexual abuse at “the Y”

While youth organizations can be great at providing after-school programs and space for children to grow and develop, they may also lead to instances of sexual abuse.

Child sexual abuse is a widespread problem in the United States, with Child Protective Services finding evidence for claims of child sex abuse every 9 minutes, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the country.

An alarming 93% of child sex abuse victims knew their perpetrators prior to the crime. Of these, 34% of perpetrators were family members and 59% were acquaintances (family friends, coaches, teachers, priests and youth program leaders, employees and volunteers), according to RAINN. Because the YMCA and YWCA offer programs for both children and adults, the interaction of these two groups of individuals is inevitable.

The YMCA and YWCA are two of many youth organizations with a history of sexual abuse only recently coming to light.

Child sexual abuse has been linked with many long-term health outcomes, as well as early death.

YMCA and YWCA historical overview

The YMCA, founded in London in 1844, has the stated goal of improving the lives of young men by joining Christian principles with the healthy development of the body, mind, and spirit. The YMCA has grown considerably in the 178 years since its inception and includes locations in 120 countries.

The first YMCA in the U.S. opened in Massachusetts in 1851, and now, there are over 2,700 separate organizational entities based in 10,000 locations across the country. “The Y” has a staff of 19,000, a volunteer network of 600,000, and works with 21 million people. The YMCA offers after-school activities, daycare, and physical fitness programs.

The first YWCA opened in New York City in 1858. Currently, the YWCA has 225 associations, more than 1,300 locations across the country and serves more than 2.3 million women and families through 12,500 employees and 52,000 volunteers.

Rather than focusing on physical services, the YWCA concentrates on human service programs in their communities. One of the major components of the YWCA’s work in communities across the nation is its domestic and sexual violence services. The YWCA’s website notes that it is the “largest network of domestic and sexual violence service providers in the nation.”

Indeed, the YWCA has a long history of providing sexual assault education. In 2017, after Candice Jackson, the then-acting head of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, suggested that most instances of campus sexual assault were illegitimate, the YWCA released an official statement: “Believe Sexual Assault Survivors.”

“Victims of sexual assault have already faced incredible trauma,” said YWCA USA interim CEO Casey Harden. “When they make the courageous decision to come forward, they deserve — at the very least — to be believed. Ms. Jackson has done considerable harm by continuing to legitimize the myth that the majority of sexual assault reports are lies. This illustrates once again how crucial it is that we have women in leadership who stand up for and with other women. We must continue to believe survivors and champion women leaders who do the same.”

The YWCA says it believes all victims, but will that belief extend to victims that claim their abuse occurred at the YWCA itself?

YMCA sexual abuse lawsuits

Litigation regarding the YMCA and YWCA’s liability for sexual abuse has already commenced. One YMCA lawsuit alleged that a former North Carolina YMCA counselor invited boys on trips, and, once away at a YMCA facility and while acting as a YMCA employee, he sexually abused the innocent boys. This YMCA employee, Michael Todd Pegram, perpetrated these crimes throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2019, Pegram, pleaded guilty to a first-degree sex offense and is serving a 30-year prison sentence.

The current YMCA lawsuit includes eight victims between the ages of 9 and 15, who argue that the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina (NWNC) “knew, or should have known” about the abuse. “We are saddened to hear and learn more about what these victims and their families experienced more than 25 years ago,” said a spokesperson for NWNC in a statement, “but we are unable to comment on pending legal matters.”

Another YMCA lawsuit was filed in Clark County Circuit Court claiming that 18-year-old Michael Begin, who had been working as a teacher’s aide for the YMCA of Greater Louisville, molested 17 children between the ages of 3 and 8. Parents in this suit allege that the YMCA failed to protect their children and that after learning Begin was being investigated by the police for molestation, the YMCA did not fire him, thereby allowing the abuse to continue for several more weeks.

According to Steve Tarver, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Louisville, the YMCA immediately suspended Begin and reported these allegations to the authorities. However, the organization has declined to clarify the timeline of the alleged incidents and the YMCA’s response. Begin is currently being held in jail on over 20 charges of child molestation.

In a separate YMCA lawsuit, parents allege that their 5-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted at a YMCA after-school program by a 7-year-old child due to lack of adult supervision. In response, the YMCA maintains that there were more supervisors than required by the state.

“The Y is a strong advocate for all families, and safety is our number one priority,” said Scott Baddley, the YMCA’s executive director. “We constantly strive to provide an environment where everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office who are trained in these matters and were able to talk with everyone involved informed us that they could not confirm anything inappropriate happened in this situation and closed their case.”

Read more: Child Victims Act Lawsuit Filed Over Ex-YMCA Volunteer

YWCA lawsuits filed over sexual assault

The YWCA has witnessed similar complaints of sexual abuse. In October 2019, a driver for the YWCA was charged with multiple instances of sexual assault of a woman with a mental disability whom he transported to and from work last fall, as reported by the Wisconsin State Journal.

The driver, Dwain Sykes, was quickly terminated by the YMCA and has admitted to some of the allegations in the YMCA lawsuit. “The driver’s actions are not representative of the values of the YWCA Madison and were in direct violation of our code of conduct,” said Vanessa McDowell, CEO of YWCA Madison. “We immediately contacted law enforcement and are cooperating with their investigation.”

Because the YWCA offers services for sexual assault and abuse survivors — including crisis intervention, counseling, and education for sexual assault prevention — allegations against the YWCA carry a unique dose of painful irony.

The YMCA and YWCA are far from the only youth organizations being hit with sexual abuse litigation. Others include the Boy Scouts of America and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Join a free YMCA and YWCA sexual assault lawsuit investigation

If you or someone you love suffered from sexual assault or sexual abuse at the hands of a volunteer, employee, or member of the YMCA or YWCA, you may qualify to join investigations into potential lawsuits and pursue a monetary recovery. A growing number of people are coming forward with allegations of childhood sexual abuse in a number of youth organizations, including the YMCA and YWCA.

Many states have recently made updates to their childhood sexual abuse laws, giving survivors more time to come forward in the future. Some states, such as California and New York, have also opened look-back windows for survivors of sexual abuse. New York’s look-back window is closed, but windows in other states still have time left. For example, California’s deadline is approaching at the end of 2022.

A great deal of childhood sexual abuse goes unreported at the time, and it can take those who suffered from childhood sexual abuse years to come forward with these kinds of allegations. With these new laws, even if the abuse took place years or even decades ago, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue both compensation and justice.

Filing a YMCA lawsuit cannot undo the pain and suffering caused by child sexual abuse. However, taking legal action can provide monetary compensation while at the same time holding those responsible — including organizations that may have ignored, allowed, or covered up the abuse — accountable for their actions.

See if you qualify for a free case evaluation by filling out the form on this page.

GET HELP – IT’S FREE

YMCA sexual abuse lawsuit claim review

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