Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix - Warner A. Gabel Branch

Ayham Alaa

Good 👍

Raphael Canevett

Pretty good place.

J reyes16

The staff are amazing

Kacee D

On May 30th 2017, a male youth member at the Warner A Gabel Boys and Girls Club in Phoenix, AZ was subjected to inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature by a male teen member who also attends that club. The youth member reported the incident to his mother immediately upon her arrival to pick him up. The teen was almost immediately identified and was questioned by the Club Manager. After about half an hour of insisting to see the teen's phone, the teen finally allowed the manager to look through the photos where, per the manager, no photos of the youth member were found. (The manager did admit to the youth members mother that there were other inappropriate photos found in the phone but none being of B&G Club members. The actual nature of those photos is unknown.) Here is the story as reported by the youth member: In the computer room, the teen hit the youth member's butt and then apologized saying it was an accident. The youth member responded by saying "oh, no problem dude." The teen then asked the youth member if he was wearing swim trunks which the youth member replied that he didn't know. The teen then said he "had an app on his phone that would determine whether the shorts were swim trunks” and told the youth member to go to the bathroom with him. In the bathroom, the teen told the youth member to “stick his butt out” so he could take a picture. The youth member did but immediately became very uncomfortable with the situation and asked the teen if he could go back to the classroom. The teen member did allow the youth member to leave the restroom at that time. Here are things that the teen admitted to: The teen initially denied the entire story however, upon being questioned a second time by the Unit Director with his mother present, he admitted to telling the youth member that he had an app that would tell whether the shorts were swim trunks or not, he admitted to being in the bathroom with the youth member and he admitted to asking the youth member to take a photo of his butt. Unfortunately, due to the Club Manager not providing the Unit Director with the entire story as it was told by the youth member, the teen was never asked if he lured the youth member into the bathroom and it was assumed by the Unit Director that they just happened to be in the bathroom at the same time. The teen denies that he actually took the photo as he claims “he realized just before taking the photo that what he was doing was wrong” and decided against it. The youth member however claims that he saw the picture on the teens phone. The youth member’s mother withdrew the youth member from Boys and Girls Club and insisted that a letter be drafted to inform other parents of the incident so that those parents could decide if they felt the club was a safe place for their child/children. After several meetings between the youth member’s mother and the Club Manager then the Unit Director and finally the Director of Impact and Outreach Programs, the club finally drafted a letter. The letter was very vague and were not handed out or mailed, they were merely placed on the desk at the front for parents who happen to see them. It is unknown whether this teen will be permanently removed from the unit or not. Lastly, the mother of the youth member did file a police report regarding the incident just in case there is a known trend with this teen or if a trend develops in the future. The B&G Club, stated that they would use this as a learning opportunity and said they would consider adding an additional security camera showing the traffic to and from the bathroom and would devise additional ways to keep the older members separate from the younger ones. I am writing this review for the sake of informing parents. From one parent to another, I just want the information out there! This was during last year’s summer program.