Big Brothers Big Sisters was created to help children build supportive relationships and connect young people with trusted mentors who could positively influence their lives.
For many children and families, these relationships have been meaningful and beneficial.
But when sexual abuse occurs within youth mentoring programs, the impact can be especially devastating because trust itself can become part of what was taken away.
Children participating in mentoring programs are often encouraged to build close relationships with adults outside of their immediate family. Those relationships are intended to create support, guidance, and stability. When someone abuses that trust, survivors frequently describe not only the trauma of the abuse itself, but the lasting effects of betrayal that can continue long afterward.
For more than 40 years, Paul Mones has represented survivors of sexual abuse and pursued institutions and organizations that allegedly failed to protect children.
If you experienced sexual abuse connected to a Big Brothers Big Sisters program, legal options may still exist.
Many people imagine sexual abuse as something sudden and obvious.
Real experiences are often much more complicated.
In mentoring environments, relationships are specifically designed to create trust and closeness. A mentor may spend time with a child, help with schoolwork, attend activities, offer encouragement, or become someone the child relies upon.
Those behaviors alone are not inappropriate.
The difficulty is that grooming frequently develops through relationships that initially appear normal.
Additional attention, gifts, private time, special treatment, or increased emotional dependence can sometimes gradually shift boundaries in ways that may not be immediately obvious to a child.
Many survivors only recognize these patterns years later.
Cases involving youth organizations can involve broader questions beyond the actions of one person.
Questions often include whether warning signs existed, whether concerns were investigated appropriately, whether supervision procedures were followed, and whether opportunities to protect children were missed.
Organizations responsible for facilitating relationships between adults and children often have obligations involving screening, oversight, policies, and reporting procedures. Understanding whether those responsibilities were fulfilled can become an important part of understanding what happened.
Children often do not understand experiences the same way adults do.
Some survivors immediately recognize sexual abuse for what it was.
Others spend years trying to understand experiences that felt confusing or difficult to explain.
Fear, shame, loyalty, embarrassment, confusion, and concern about consequences can all affect whether someone speaks about what happened.
Many survivors later describe trying to normalize experiences that never should have happened.
That is not uncommon.
Cases involving organizations can involve years of records, internal policies, multiple parties, and questions extending far beyond individual conduct.
For more than four decades, Paul Mones has represented survivors of sexual abuse and pursued institutions that allegedly failed to protect children.
His experience includes trying the first sexual abuse case to a jury against the Archdiocese of New York in 2000.
In 2007, Paul and his co-counsel obtained an $11.45 million jury verdict against the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York on behalf of survivors.
In 2010, Paul and his co-counsel obtained a $19.9 million verdict against the Boy Scouts of America, resulting in the release of internal records exposing decades of institutional knowledge regarding abuse.
Many survivors spend years believing they were the only person who experienced what they did. Some blame themselves.
Others bury memories or avoid speaking about what happened because discussing it feels overwhelming. Responsibility belongs with the person who committed the abuse and with institutions that failed to act appropriately.
Not with the survivor. No one should have to carry that burden alone.
Many survivors assume too much time has passed.
That is not always true.
Laws involving childhood sexual abuse have changed significantly in many states, and some people who previously believed they had no legal options may now have opportunities available.
Understanding your specific situation is more important than assuming an opportunity no longer exists.
If you experienced sexual abuse connected to Big Brothers Big Sisters or another youth mentoring program, you do not need to have every answer before reaching out.
The first conversation can simply be a place to understand your options and ask questions.
Speak With Paul Mones PC
For more than 40 years, Paul Mones has represented survivors of child sexual abuse and has helped uncover how these patterns develop inside trusted institutions. If you have questions about something that happened, or something that does not feel right, you can start by understanding your options.
