YMCA in Massachusetts changes its closing routine after a disabled woman was left in the building

From The Boston Globe:

Melrose Police Chief Michael Lyle said August 7 that the YMCA has updated its emergency contact list and its routine when shuttering the facility, after a disabled woman was left alone in the building after closing one day last month.

The episode is the latest to surface at the YMCA, where a child sex abuse scandal rocked the organization and prompted two executives to announce this summer that they are stepping down.

The incident unfolded when Officer William O'Donnell responded to a missing person call on West Emerson Street on Sunday, July 19. A woman said her 53-year-old daughter, who suffers from schizophrenia, had left for the YMCA at 8:30 a.m. that Sunday to go swimming and hadn't returned home, though she usually came back by 10:30 a.m.

O'Donnell drove to the Y and noted a sign that said the building closed at 11 a.m. on Sunday. As he began checking the area, the woman - whose name is redacted from the police report because of her disability - exited the Y.

"She stated that all of the lights had been turned off and she had a great deal of difficulty finding her way out," O'Donnell wrote in his report, adding that the woman said she left her apartment key and jacket inside.

While the exact timeline of events is unclear, O'Donnell filed the report just after 3 p.m. on the day in question.

Lyle said on Friday that police had trouble contacting Y staffers to discuss the incident. He said that since the episode, the Y has updated its emergency contact list - something many local businesses do to aid police - and changed its spot-check policy at closing.

Outgoing president and CEO Richard Whitworth did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the changes.

In other developments, the YMCA has retained a new paid spokesperson in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal.

The new YMCA spokeswoman is Janey Bishoff of Bishoff Communications in Boston. A staffer in her office said she was vacationing on Thursday and unavailable for comment.

Bishoff replaces former YMCA spokesman Doug Bailey, whose two-month contract ended in July.

She provides "high level strategic and crisis counsel," according to her company's website. Her clients have included Starbucks, the Harpoon Brewing Company, and General Mills, among others. She has worked in public relations for more than 20 years.

Former YMCA employee James Conner, 51, was arrested in February and indicted on five counts of child rape, among other charges. He pleaded not guilty on all counts and is on home confinement, with a trial scheduled to begin April 5.

Whitworth announced his resignation in June, effective Sept. 1. The YMCA board of directors said last month that vice president Nancy Madden would leave in October. In its written statement on her departure, board members said Whitworth would step down once an interim CEO was hired.

Asked about the hiring process on Thursday, board chair Mary Sexton said in an e-mail that the Y would have more information when it became available. She did not elaborate.

The state Department of Early Education and Care - which licenses after school programs at nonprofits - released a report in April finding that YMCA officials hired Conner after learning of alleged improprieties at other facilities. The Y has disputed the report.

At least one civil lawsuit has been filed against the YMCA in Middlesex Superior Court. A woman and her daughter filed a negligence suit against the YMCA and six current or former employees on May 20. The suit - which is under seal at the requests of the plaintiffs - names Conner, Karen Dauteuil, Madden, Whitworth, Sam Russo, and Ruthanne Smith-Datalo as defendants.