‘How does this happen again?’: Family of 10-year-old allegedly molested by camp counselor sues YMCA of Silicon Valley

The family of a Morgan Hill child who was allegedly sexually abused by a camp counselor while on a field trip in June has filed a lawsuit against the YMCA of Silicon Valley, alleging that the organization was negligent and allowed the alleged sexual abuse to happen without detection despite a lawsuit alleging similar failings at the same facility more than a decade ago.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Santa Clara County, claims that the YMCA of Silicon Valley was systemically understaffed and did not utilize “essential” child safeguards, ultimately failing at its responsibility to keep the children in its care safe from sexual abuse during a program at its Morgan Hill Mt. Madonna location, according to a press release from Cerri, Boskovich & Allard LLP, the law firm representing the family.

Anthony Joseph Ramon, a 25-year-old resident of Gilroy, is accused of sexually touching three 10-year-old girls during a YMCA field trip to the Morgan Hill Aquatic Center on June 30 while employed as a camp counselor. In July, he was charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious acts against a minor under the age of 14 in three separate cases. Last week, a judge granted the prosecution’s request to consolidate the three separate cases into one and revoked bail on the grounds that Ramon posed an ongoing threat to the community. Prosecutors also alleged that Ramon had been found to be in possession of at least 30 images of child sexual abuse material depicting children as young as infants.

The lawsuit alleges that the YMCA has been aware of the risk of sexual assault against the children in its care for “well over a decade,” citing a lawsuit filed in 2014 against the organization after four girls between the ages of three and six were repeatedly sexually abused by a teacher’s aide at the Mt. Madonna location. The teacher’s aide was ultimately convicted of six counts of committing lewd or lascivious acts on a child and two counts of child pornography.

That case specifically alleged that the YMCA violated requirements for staff-to-child ratios, did not disclose disciplinary warnings against staff to parents, retaliated against employees who expressed concerns about safety violations and did not have adequate supervision of the children in its care, attorneys added.

The YMCA of Silicon Valley did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Thursday.

Lauren Cerri, the attorney representing the victim, said that the purpose of the lawsuit filed this week is to “encourage the YMCA to enact stronger child safety mechanisms and policies” and ensure that their employees follow those policies in order to properly supervise the children in their care.

“They’ve had over a decade to fix these failures and their child protection policies,” Cerri said. “Because they didn’t do it, it was four young women before and now it’s three more young women who will be affected for the rest of their lives. They’re going to suffer lifelong harm as a result of (the YMCA) not learning from their mistakes. It’s like history repeating itself.”

The victim’s family alleges that Ramon touched her breasts and genitalia at least five times during the field trip, according to the complaint – behavior that “went entirely undetected.”

Cerri added that the YMCA needs to establish clear standards for the interactions between children and adults and ensure that staff-to-child ratios are maintained.

The lawsuit alleges that the YMCA was negligent both in its hiring and supervision of Ramon and negligent in its supervision of the victim, resulting in great physical and mental suffering, according to the complaint. The victim’s identity is withheld in court papers to protect her identity.

The plaintiffs allege that despite policies the YMCA has in place to prohibit staff from touching campers in areas of their body that would be covered by a swimsuit, the camp was understaffed and did not have sufficient levels of adult supervision, ultimately allowing Ramon’s alleged abuse of the children to proceed without detection.

“Ramon used his position with the YMCA organization to sexually abuse Plaintiff when she was only 10 years old,” the lawsuit alleges. “After gaining Plaintiff’s trust, Ramon went on to grope Plaintiff’s genitalia multiple times during the summer camp under the guise of assisting her with swimming.”

The family also alleges that the camp only disclosed to parents of the camp’s children that an “alleged incident” occurred but did not specify that the incident included allegations of child sexual abuse. The alleged abuse against Doe only came to light after her mother asked her if anything uncomfortable occurred on the field trip.

“Rather than candidly confronting the gravity of the allegations and acknowledging its own failures, YMCA SV’s communication largely emphasized the organization’s training, protocols, and commitment to child safety, giving the appearance of an effort to minimize the seriousness of the conduct and mitigate institutional liability,” the allegations continue.

Ramon had been employed by the YMCA since 2024.

“Parents trust the YMCA with the safety of their children when they send them there, and they’re assuming that they have safety protocols in place, that they’re following standards and guidelines,” Cerri said. “Especially because this happened in the past – like how does this happen again?”