Mid-County YMCA Swim Coach Accused of Sex Abuse in Lawsuit
A lawsuit filed today accuses a coach of sexually abusing two students in the 1980s.
An unidentified swim coach has been accused of sexually abusing two boys, ages 11 or 12 years old at the time, at the Mid-County YMCA, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.
The abuse is reported to have occurred at the YMCA, in Brentwood, in 1986 or 1987.
"The boys were the only two students in a semi-private class, and the suit accuses the coach of showing the boys pornography, acting as a “big brother” figure and talking “graphically about sex” before progressing to sexual abuse."
Read the full article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
A call to the Mid-County YMCA has not been immediately returned.
Update: The call was returned on Feb. 7, and as a result, the following statement regarding the accusation was emailed to Patch. It is attributed to the YMCA of Greater St. Louis, and dated February 6, 2013.
The YMCA of Greater St. Louis had no previous knowledge of these claims before today's public announcement. We have not been served with a copy of the lawsuit. While we will not comment on pending litigation, our top priority is the safety and security of our members and program participants.
Judy Jones
7:59 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Let's hope that every person who saw, suspected or may have been harmed by anyone at the YMCA at 1528 Locust Street in downtown St. Louis, will find the courage and strength to speak up and contact police, no matter how long ago the abuse happened.
Keep in mind your silence only hurts, and by speaking up there is a chance for healing, exposing the truth, and therefore protecting others.
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, USA, 636-433-2511. snapjudy@gmail.com,
"SNAP (The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) is the world's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 12,000 members. Despite the word priest in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, teachers, Protestant ministers and increasingly, victims who were assaulted in a wide range of institutional settings like orphanages, summer camps, athletic programs, Boy Scouts, etc."
RDBet
9:06 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Breaking news? It's a story, but whatever happened (or didn't) was 25 years ago.
Copyright Violators
10:05 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Another fine piece of reporting - The suspect has no name, crime is alleged 25 years ago and the victims can not identify the suspect. Yet, The Patch deems it news so now the YMCA is slandered as they try do disprove a mythical allegation?
And the writer claims to have called the Y for comment - ah, bull sheet - who was called at the Y ?
It won't be a day too soon that The Patch folds up and takes it poor research and writing to the toilet in hell !
Doug Miner
10:59 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Since "Copyright Violators" asked, Greg Keller in the Mid-County YMCA's marketing department was called yesterday. He returned the call today and referred Patch to the YMCA central office. We're waiting for a call-back from them. Thanks for asking.
Doug Miner
12:24 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
The call to the YMCA of Greater St. Louis was returned. A representative sent a statement, which has now been added to the article.
Gary Peters
1:14 am on Sunday, February 10, 2013
Doug, could you dig a little more into this as I am confused that the Post article states that neither boy could remember the coach's name. So is there an actual suspect here or not? Or is SNAP simply filing suit because an unknown person may have molested these boys on the YMCA property. Also, could you look into whether or not Brentwood Police were ever asked to investigate any incident there.
Doug Miner
1:47 pm on Sunday, February 10, 2013
Gary, this article by Patch editor Joe Scott ( http://patch.com/A-1KjL) says the two plaintiffs, referred to as John Doe A and John Doe B, do not remember the instructor’s name. To me it sounds like there is a suspect, but the plaintiffs don't remember the name. I'll check with Brentwood police.
Gary Peters
4:27 am on Monday, February 11, 2013
I read that as well, and that article also states that the boys were unsure if the instructor worked for the YMCA, or was merely a volunteer. I just find it curious that neither of the two boys could remember the name of an instructor that supposedly abused them on a "weekly basis" for "about a year" according to the lawsuit filed. That the YMCA would release a statement claiming that they only became aware of the lawsuit through the SNAP press conference leads me to believe that the police were never notified. And that troubles me.