Sexual Abuse Allegations Against ex-Councilor

 Lawsuit against Kernersville YMCA is headed to the N.C. Court of Appeals. The lawsuit alleges that officials at Kernersville YMCA did nothing about allegations a counselor sexually assaulted nine men when they were boys in the 1990s and early 2000s.


Attorneys for the YMCA are filing a sex crime appeal for the decision of a Forsyth County judge to transfer the lawsuit to Wake County to resolve a motion to dismiss the suit. The men suing the YMCA argued that the motion dealt with constitutional issues that could potentially jeopardize the state law that made it easier for victims of child sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits. Attorneys for the men said a three-judge panel in Wake County should decide the issues and not a Forsyth County judge.  


Judge Richard Gottlieb of Forsyth Superior Court agreed, sending the case to Wake County. But last month, Gray Wilson and Lorin Lapidus, attorneys for the YMCA, filed a notice of appeal. The current legal dispute is over a law known as SAFE, which increased the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits based on child sexual-abuse allegations.


Gov. Roy Cooper signed the SAFE Act into law Nov. 7, 2019. Under the law, people who say they were sexually abused when they were under 18 have two years to file a claim from the time that the alleged sexual abuser was convicted in criminal court. The lawsuit alleges that former YMCA counselor Michael Todd Pegram, 48, sexually assaulted nine men when they were boys and that the YMCA failed to do anything. 


Pegram pleaded guilty in June 2019 to five counts of first-degree sex offense, one count of attempted first-degree sex offense, one count of statutory sex offense and 21 counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. He is serving up to 30 years in prison. Attorneys for the YMCA will file an official written brief in November, according to court papers filed with the N.C. Court of Appeals on Sept. 16. 

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