Police investigate former Mukilteo YMCA worker for alleged sexual assault

Published 10:34 pm Friday, January 8, 2010

MUKILTEO — Snohomish County prosecutors are reviewing sexual assault allegations against a Mukilteo YMCA employee.

The man was suspended and hasn’t worked at the facility since Aug. 13 when the allegations were brought to the attention of staff, said Martin Cross, the executive director of the Mukilteo YMCA.

Cross said a parent of a child who attended the YMCA contacted staff about the allegations. YMCA personnel immediately called state Child Protective Services, Cross said.

Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives and Mukilteo police investigated the allegations.

Investigators were told the incident happened at the YMCA’s program at Picnic Point Elementary School, according to a police report. Witnesses told investigators that the man, 49, was warned in the past that he wasn’t allowed to hug or touch children on the shoulders. That kind of contact is against the facility’s policies, the witnesses reported.

The man, a camp director, denied assaulting the child.

Cross said that the YMCA requires employees to undergo criminal background checks. There are extensive policies and procedures for child abuse prevention, he said.

“There has not been an incident like this in the 16-year history of the Mukilteo YMCA,” Cross said.

The facility will determine if they need to make any changes to their policies, he said.

It will be up to prosecutors to determine if the camp director will face criminal charges.