This post has two points of interest
1. Our very own leaders, the people we pay to protect our children have a code of silence.
2. Child abuse in care center
Larry Richardson, accused of failing to report an alleged child sexual abuse case at the YMCA's Camp Spirit, arrested. Richardson faces one misdemeanor count each of endangering the welfare of children and penalties for failure to report or refer.
Richardson told police that he followed the law in not reporting the incident to authorities and that it was a case of "sexual exploration" between two 12-year-old boys.
The case
Police began investigating after they received two reports from the Penn Dept of H. S. ChildLine that referenced a sexual assault that occurred in July 2014.
Police then spoke with the camp director, who said the boys "had gone to a secluded area in the woods while playing. She said that one of the boys told his therapeutic support staff member that he and the other boy "had mutually done sexual things to each other," documents state.
However, when police spoke with that staff member, she said the same boy told her "something bad happened" and that he was "extremely embarrassed and very upset," documents state.
The director wrote an incident report, but could not find it for police. When asked with whom she had spoken about the incident besides her supervisor, the director mentioned Richardson, documents state.
"Richardson stated that after consulting with his staff, they didn't feel the behavior reached the level of anything criminal," documents state. Richardson said first that he could not recall an incident report being generated, then didn't think there was one, documents state.
Police interviewed Richardson a second time on Feb. 23 and asked him if he had located an incident report about the alleged abuse. Richardson said he had not found one.
Ferro wrote that Richardson will continue in his position at the YMCA, "to do what he has done for the last twenty plus years: guide the YMCA and continue to help
and support the children and families of York County who rely upon this institution. BArf !!!
Many of the facts presented in the charging documents have been known to law enforcement for months. Mr. Richardson conscientiously and thoughtfully examined all of the facts available to him in August 2014. His decision not to report the 2014 incident was appropriate and justified by the mandates of the law in effect at that time."
https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/2016/06/27/trial-york-ymca-president-child-endangerment/86440474/
https://www.ydr.com/story/news/crime/2016/05/29/ymca-ceo-innocent-alleged-child-abuse-case-lawyer-says/85127798/
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Factfinder2 ago
The director said she thought it was consensual and wrote a report but didn't file it with police, then couldn't find it when police came into the picture. She lost believability there, so is anything she says true?
I think this is the most relevant thing (taken from your first link): https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/2016/06/27/trial-york-ymca-president-child-endangerment/86440474/
"One of the boys, who The York Dispatch is identifying by the initial B., returned to Camp Spirit for the 2015 season. It's his return that eventually spurred Northeastern Regional Police to investigate the 2014 incident and file charges alleging Richardson should have reported that encounter to ChildLine, the state's child-abuse reporting hotline.
[Director] Pritchett testified she also was notified of the 2015 incident, which involved B. allegedly sexually assaulting a 5-year-old boy.
Civil lawsuit:
The 5-year-old's mother has sued the YMCA of York, as well as the YMCA of the USA, alleging the organization failed to inform other campers or their parents of a "severe risk of harm" to other children by B., and claims the organization took no precautions to keep other young campers safe from B. It was only after the mother alerted police to the 2015 incident that YMCA staff told police about the 2014 encounter, according to the lawsuit.
https://www.ydr.com/story/news/crime/2016/09/27/ymca-of-york-president-and-ceo-accepted-into-court-program-for-first-time-offenders/91160316/
YMCA CEO keeps job, resolves criminal case:
"YMCA of York and York County President and CEO Larry Richardson, who had been charged with failing to report a case of suspected child abuse from 2014, was accepted into a court program on Tuesday that allows people to have criminal charges expunged if they complete a set of conditions.
Richardson, 56, of West Manchester Township, is not admitting guilt by taking part in the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program. He must complete 35 hours of community service, write an apology letter and maintain employment."