Were you sexually abused by someone associated with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America? If you were, it is important to speak with an experienced sex abuse lawyer at Merson Law PLLC, as soon as possible. You may be entitled to compensation for the pain and suffering you have endured.
It is alleged that the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (also known as BGCA) has suppressed incidents of sexual abuse in an attempt to cover up a plague of sexual assaults against children.
Similarly to the Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic Church, it is believed that the BCGA was the target of predators who sought to have control over children and the opportunity to be alone with them.
Some lawsuits have revealed that BCGA did not report some of their employees or volunteers to the authorities following complaints of sexual violence against participants. This allowed the abuse to continue for decades.
If you were abused in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
The Boys & Girls Club of America was founded in 1860 by Mary and Alice Goodwin and Elizabeth Hammersly.
These founders believed that “boys who roamed the streets should have a positive alternative.” The BGCA provides voluntary after-school programs for young people through over 4,000 autonomous local clubs. These clubs provide programs for nearly 4 million kids.
Like other youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, the BGCA has had many predators take positions of power over children.
Despite potentially thousands of cases, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America has failed to report incidents of abuse multiple times.
In 2019, Greenwich Time reported that five men filed a lawsuit against Andrew Atkinson for sexually abusing them during his employment in the BGCA.
The said abuse spanned from 1975 through 1984, during Atkinson’s employment under the BGCA, where he molested boys as young as 6 years old.
In September 2018, the Pierce County jury awarded a 47-year-old man over $1.5 million in damages after being sexually abused as a child in the Tacoma Boys & Girls Club. Although the defendants weren’t criminally charged, one of the accused, Charles Richard Patrick Urlacher, served time for two other rape cases.
In 2018, Paul Dwayne Kilgore, former Athletic Director for the Sonoma Country Club, was sentenced to 150 years in prison for multiple felonies. The case revealed that the BGCA was complicit in retaining Kilgore despite multiple reports and complaints from parents and participants.
In New York State, the statute of limitations for sexual assault against a minor changed under The Child Victims Act, passed in 2019. The Child Victims Act includes provisions that:
It also opened a lookback window, during which the statute of limitations for sexual assault were removed.
The lookback window ended on August 14, 2021, but there may still be options for you to seek financial compensation for your suffering. To get started with a claim, contact the sexual assault lawyers at Merson Law PLLC.
If you were sexually abused in New York City, there will be another window for you to file your lawsuit regardless of your age. If you were sexually abused, contact a lawyer at Merson law immediately to learn your rights. The initial consultation is free.
