Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Suit alleges abuse at swim club
A lawsuit claims that a 5-year-old girl was sexually attacked during an after-school sports camp in Brandon.
By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published January 30, 2006
BRANDON - Olympic divers have trained there. Countless kids have taken their first swimming lessons there. And now the mother of a 5-year-old girl is suing the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center, alleging that her daughter was sexually attacked there.
A lawsuit filed Monday in Hillsborough circuit court claims that on Aug. 9, 2004, the girl was attending an after-school sports camp at the center when she was "viciously and savagely attacked in a sexual fashion" by another participant of the camp in a boys restroom.
The lawsuit alleges that there was not proper supervision at the camp, and that the girl and the other camper were left unattended while using the restrooms, and that center employees failed to notice that the campers were missing while the attack occurred.
It goes on to say the center "failed to employ a sufficient number of adult care givers for the number of children participating in the ... program."
Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center officials could not be reached for comment Monday night. Brandon attorneys Michael S. Edenfield and John W. Gardner, who filed the suit, also could not be reached.
The lawsuit claims the girl has suffered "bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and treatment ... and aggravation of a previously existing condition."
Formerly known as the Brandon Swim and Tennis Club, the 42-year-old center is known internationally for its Olympic ties.
Olympic silver medalist Maritza Correia trained at the facility for more than a decade before she competed in Athens 2004. Another alum, swimmer Brooke Bennett of Plant City, was a bronze medalist in the 1994 World Championships.
Center officials have dreamed of one day hosting the Olympic swimming or diving trials.
-- Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813 226-3354 or at azayas@sptimes.com
[Last modified January 30, 2006, 20:05:03]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
