A former YMCA camp counselor in San Francisco pleaded not guilty to accusations of child molestation on Tuesday.
Evin Blanchard has been charged with 10 felony counts and three misdemeanors of child molestation and lewd acts upon a child. Investigators say the crimes occurred this summer while Blanchard worked as a camp counselor at the Embarcadero YMCA and went on field trips with the victims.
On Tuesday, parents were shocked, but the YMCA defended itself saying it conducts thorough background checks on all employees.
One parent, who asked to remain anonymous for the sake of her daughter’s safety, said at the arraignment that Blanchard used Snapchat to talk to her child.
Her daughter said that “she had been pushed inappropriately on the swings” and tried to be “contacted by social media at 11 o’clock at night on a Saturday asking if she was in bed,” the woman said.
According to Maz Szabo, a spokesperson for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, a stay-away order has been issued for three 12-year-old victims and one adult.
Bail is set at $5 million and Blanchard is due back in court on Nov. 4.
