PALM HARBOR, Fla. — One Tampa area family says their 3-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by two other children in 2019 at a local YMCA. Now, they're suing the facility and two of its employees.
A release from the family attorney claims that Palm Harbor YMCA employees "violated well-known standards of care" in June 2019 when an 11-year-old boy and 7-year-old boy allegedly held down and sexually assaulted a 3-year-old girl.
According to the girl's family, the employees failed to adhere to their own internal policies by allowing the 3-year-old to be left alone with the older children.
Another point of concern raised by the family in the lawsuit is that the YMCA employees were aware of at least one previous incident of "inappropriate sexual behavior" by the two boys, stemming from late 2018.
The complaint is seeking damages for emotional and physical harm sustained by the girl and her family.
“Statistically speaking, we know children this age don’t typically behave this way unless they have been victims of abuse themselves in some fashion,” Attorney Josh Drechsel wrote in a release. “Regardless, this incident is unacceptable. It is vital that parents open dialogue with their children about sexual abuse whether it occurred from the subject YMCA or elsewhere."
"Our goal is to help prevent something like this from happening again, while helping victims, including our clients, to be heard and getting organizations such as the YMCA to recognize that changes are necessary.”
In a statement, the Senior Communications Director for the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA said law enforcement found that the organization had not done anything "improper."
"The YMCA of the Suncoast takes the safety and security of all those that we serve in the highest regard. On June 15, 2019, the alleged incident was reported to law enforcement, who conducted a full and thorough investigation. The YMCA of the Suncoast was not charged with any violations, nor was it found to have done anything improper," the statement read.
While the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said it investigated this incident, it was ultimately sent to the State Attorney’s Office, which made the decision to not press charges. We’ve reached out to both offices to provide us with documents so that we can learn more about why that was.