Sexual abuse at the hands of a trusted adult can have devastating, life-long impacts on the victim. Parents trust organizations that offer sports, camping, and other youth programs to provide a safe and caring environment for their children.
It is up to these organizations to create a safe environment for children, and it is essential that they adopt the right policies, procedures, and screenings to protect vulnerable persons in their care. According to the CDC, the prevention of child sexual abuse in youth organizations starts with the screening, selection, and training of employees and volunteers. It continues with guidelines on interactions between individuals, monitoring contact with children, and responding to inappropriate behavior.
When youth service organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA/YWCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, youth sports leagues (Little League, AYSO, Pop Warner, USA Swimming, CYO, etc), and youth camps fail in their duties to adequately protect kids, civil litigation can help provide healing, closure and justice for the victims, and necessary changes to the organizations to protect children today.
If you or someone you love has been sexually victimized while in a youth program, contact Crew Janci LLP today so that together we may help you and your family seek justice and ensure that this kind of abuse does not happen again.