The parents of a teenage girl are suing the Wyman Center, claiming the Eureka nonprofit youth organization’s staff members did not do enough to prevent their daughter’s “violent rape” at the hands of a teenage boy during a camping trip last summer, court records shows.
The lawsuit also claims staff members failed to properly respond to the situation and the center failed to inform parents of prior assaults and sexual assaults that happened “due to its inadequate policies, practices and procedures.”
The parents filed the lawsuit on Jan. 16 in the St. Louis County Circuit Court on behalf of their daughter. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $25,000 from the Wyman Center, 600 Kiwanis Drive, and 12 staff members.
On Jan. 31, an attorney representing the Wyman Center said Wyman staff immediately notified authorities and the families involved when the incident was reported to them.
“On June 28, 2024, Wyman staff were notified of an incident between two teens. Wyman staff immediately notified the families of those involved, engaged appropriate government authorities and are cooperating with the investigation,” said Stephen Strum of the law firm Sandberg Phoenix. “In addition, Wyman promptly engaged an internal investigation, including a review of the processes used on the day in question. Wyman has deep concerns regarding this event and is committed to taking any appropriate steps to ensure the well-being of the young people they serve.
“The reported incident occurred between two minors. Wyman respects their privacy, and therefore will not make any further comment.”
According to the lawsuit, the girl attended the Teen Youth Leadership Camp in June 2024 at the Wyman Center. The overnight camp ran from June 9-28 and included a trip to the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois for a camping trip near Devil’s Kitchen Lake.
“The camps are staffed by people who attended previous Wyman Center camps, most of whom are young adults with no specialized training,” the lawsuit says,
The suit also says children attending the camp give up all meaningful communication with their parents, referring to the practice as a “technology-free” summer.
On June 26, campers and staff members traveled by bus to southern Illinois. During the trip, a teenage boy, who also was attending the camp, sexually assaulted one girl and attempted to sexually assault their daughter, the parents claimed in the lawsuit.
Staff members did not discipline the boy or report his behavior, according to the suit.
When the group arrived at the campsite, the staff allowed boys and girls to set up their tents next to each other without staff members putting their tents between the campers’ tents. The staff also set up their tents in a way that did not allow them to always observe the campers’ tents, the lawsuit says.
At about 10:30 p.m., a staff member saw the boy in their daughter’s tent and told the boy to leave but did not make sure he left the tent, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges the boy sexually assaulted the parents’ daughter, and he spent the night in the tent after the alleged rape. When the girl told staff members about the attack, neither the police nor the parents were called and the boy was not removed from the camp, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also says the Wyman Center previously had been sued for “nearly identical conduct,” and staff members deliberately didn’t disclose information about prior lawsuits or assaults.