Youth Development
A volunteer basketball coach at a local community center recruits several 12-year-old girls who were playing basketball to join him in the weight room for weight training. The weight room is located at the far end of the building, away from the basketball courts and out of sight of others in the building. The basketball coach assists the girls in putting on their weight belts, spots them, calibrates their body fat percentages, shows them which muscles each exercise develops, and encourages them to eat right and work out regularly.
The next day when someone complains to the center director that kids under 16 were in the weight room last night, the director replies, "Oh man, is Earl up to that again? I've told him twice he's not supposed to take those girls into the weight room. They're too young, he's not a certified weight trainer, and they're supposed to be practicing basketball."
Is Earl a child molester? Here's what we know:
- He moved children to an isolated area in the building, out of sight of others.
- He engaged in a great deal of physical contact.
- He repeatedly violated policies, despite at least two warnings.
Each of these facts can be an indicator of increased risk to abuse!
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