Sexual assault alleged at Kansas YMCA camp
An 11-year-old Clay County girl was sexually assaulted by a counselor at a YMCA camp in Chase County, Kan., according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
The alleged assault occurred in June 2014 at Camp Wood YMCA, which is about 130 miles southwest of Kansas City.
The counselor, an 18-year-old resident of England, allegedly forced the girl into an outhouse in a remote area of the camp, according to the suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.
With his forearm against her throat, the counselor pinned her against a wall, allegedly called her derogatory names and told her “you shouldn’t have ignored me,” according to the suit.
As he sexually assaulted her, the girl tried to punch, kick, bite and scratch him, records say.
He told her that he knew her address and threatened to find her and kill her if she told anyone what happened, the suit says.
It was not until April 2015 that the girl told her parents about the attack, after she had become “severely depressed, withdrawn and suicidal.”
The camp director was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
Tony Rizzo: 816-234-4435, @trizzkc
This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Sexual assault alleged at Kansas YMCA camp."