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Melrose Y still under fire
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MELROSE - Child rape charges against a longtime employee of the Melrose Family YMCA have shaken the 119-year-old institution, prompting a citizens' group to call for top Y officials to resign and the organization to give up its state license to run an after-school program at the Beebe School. Kathy McCabe July 5, 2009 --
Melrose Y still under fire
Parents shocked by child rape charges against after-school worker now want VP to step down, calling response inadequate
MELROSE - Child rape charges against a longtime employee of the Melrose Family YMCA have shaken the 119-year-old institution, prompting a citizens' group to call for top Y officials to resign and the organization to give up its state license to run an after-school program at the Beebe School.
Richard Whitworth, the 30-year Y president, last month announced he will resign, effective Sept. 1. But that has not quieted critics angry at the Y for its response to the arrest of James Conner, 51, a former Y girls basketball coach and an after-school program coordinator.
He is alleged to have raped two girls under age 14 who were on his basketball team, according to the Middlesex district attorney's office.
Melrose Cares, a community group formed in response to the Y scandal, last week launched an online petition to have Nancy Madden, the Y's vice president, removed by the board of directors.
"She is just as responsible as Whitworth is,'' said Patricia Wright, a local lawyer who launched www.melrosecares.org. "I'm going to keep the petition up, until either she resigns or the board does the right thing.''
A Y spokesman said Madden, a 20-year veteran of the Melrose Y, has no plans to leave. "She doesn't believe she needs to resign as a result of this,'' spokesman Doug Bailey said.
On June 22, the Melrose YMCA turned in its license for an after-school program at Beebe School to the state Department of Early Education and Care, which regulates after-school programs run by nonprofits. The program was also run in the summer at Beebe, a closed elementary school that the Y leased for its after-school programs for several years.
The Department of Early Education and Care investigated the Melrose Y after Conner was arrested Feb. 12 at his home in North Reading. In April, the agency issued a report, stating that the Melrose Y "failed to protect children from abuse,'' and ordered the Y to freeze enrollment at the Beebe program and improve staff training and oversight, among other requirements.
Additional information:
Children's Health & Fitness ' Childhood Obesity Facts
Top 10 Fitness Facts
Sorting out fitness facts from the myths - The Denver Post
Just the Facts on Physical Activity and Children
Amazon.com: Body Talk: The Straight Facts on Fitness , Nutrition
Healthy B.P.M. 'Blog Archive' '300' Fitness Facts
ScienceDaily: Fitness News
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