MetroWest YMCA Says Accused Child Rapist Worked At Its Summer Camp

The MetroWest YMCA emailed families Thursday night to inform them a man arrested on charges of child rape at a day care center at a Massachusetts University, worked for the YMCA as a summer camp counselor.

Bridgewater State University student Kyle Loughlin, 21, was arrested on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting two children at an on-campus day care.

Loughlin pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape of a child with force and three counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14. He was held without bail.

“The MetroWest YMCA has learned that Kyle Loughlin, a former seasonal employee, was recently arrested on multiple charges of sexual assault of a minor,” wrote MetroWest CEO & President Rick MacPherson.

“Loughlin worked at our Hopkinton Summer Day Camp during the summers of 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 as a counselor. We are writing to parents of children who attended camp during that time because we want to make sure you are aware of the situation and because you may see media reports about it. Because he was not an employee of the Y at the time of his arrest, we do not have many details about this situation,” wrote MacPherson.

The CEO told parents a child’s safety has been and remains the paramount concern of the MetroWest YMCA.

We have a series of measures in place to keep kids safe. Our Y:

• conducts criminal background checks, sex offender registry checks and reference checks on all staff prior to hiring;
• conducts criminal background checks and sex offender registry checks on all volunteers;
• requires all staff and volunteers to complete training on recognizing and preventing abuse;
• prohibits staff and volunteers from being alone with a child where they cannot be observed by others;
• restricts staff contact with children outside of YMCA programs;
• educates parents on how to recognize and prevent abuse; and
• reports any allegations or suspicions of abuse to law enforcement.

MacPherson said those “protocols were followed with respect to Mr. Loughlin. The background, sex offender registry and reference checks conducted by the YMCA on Mr. Loughlin were clean; he had no previous criminal record.”

Bridgewater State officials said Loughlin was one of several students who worked at the center. They said he had successfully passed CORI, SORI and DCF checks in 2013, plus a criminal fingerprint test in 2014, according to a report on WHDH-TV.

The Bridgewater center is an on-campus location where students, faculty and staff can bring their children for day care. The daycare staff reported concern that two boys, ages 4 and 5, were victimized.

University police arrested him after they said he made comments regarding the incident, reported WHDH-TV.

According to the police report, Loughlin told investigators he “didn’t start touching children until recently,” then told detectives “he started feeling attraction to little boys when he was 17.”

Loughlin is studying education at the University and worked at the daycare, which has 30 preschool children enrolled, reported the Boston television station.