YMCA, District Sued Over Girl’s Alleged Abuse

The parents of a 6-year-old girl have filed suit against the YMCA of Orange County and the Capistrano Unified School District, charging that they allowed her to be sexually abused by three male classmates in an after-school program on a Laguna Niguel campus.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court, alleges that the YMCA and the school district were responsible for allowing the boys to hold the girl down on the ground and fondle her genitals. It also contends that the boys and their parents are liable.

The alleged incident occurred March 22, 1996, after school hours at George L. White Elementary, where the YMCA runs a day-care center.

Mark E. Roseman, an attorney for the girl’s family, said the lawsuit seeking unspecified damages was filed after the school district denied an administrative claim against it. He said the YMCA had dismissed the allegation after what he called a “fairly cursory” investigation.

Roseman said the Laguna Niguel girl had been independently examined by a professional therapist. He said there were no adult witnesses, hindering a potential criminal case, but that a civil suit was warranted.

Jacqueline Price, a spokeswoman for Capistrano Unified, said Wednesday evening that she did not know whether the girl’s family had filed a claim.

Price said the district had cooperated with a sheriff’s investigation of the alleged incident but she did not elaborate. “We will continue to assist in whatever way possible,” Price said.

Price noted that the alleged incident occurred “under the supervision of another agency. . . . [It] did not happen . . . under the supervision of the school district.”

Attempts to reach YMCA officials and a sheriff’s investigator Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.

The YMCA was awarded a contract in 1991 to run child-care programs on Capistrano Unified campuses, Price said.

The lawsuit alleges that the girl’s vagina was fondled and penetrated by fingers as a rock was placed in her mouth. Roseman said it occurred on a playground. The suit said the incident “shattered the natural human trust inherent in a young child” and inflicted “potentially deep-seated psychological injuries” to the girl.

A parent of one of the boys called the charge “totally ridiculous.” The parent said that authorities had investigated the matter, interviewing his 6-year-old son and other children, and concluded “it was just little kids making stories.”

Roseman said he believed the two other boys were also 5 or 6 years old.

The attorney said the family had deliberated at length on what action to take. The lawsuit was also held up while he gathered facts and filed a claim against the school district.