Camp counselor accused of molesting kids
U.S. marshals raided an Arizona home this week and arrested a man accused of molesting children while he worked as a YMCA summer camp counselor this year in San Francisco, officials said Tuesday.
Evin “Devin” Blanchard, a 24-year-old San Francisco resident, was picked up early Thursday in Phoenix, where he awaits extradition to California on suspicion of various crimes including child molestation and producing child pornography.
Investigators started looking into Blanchard on Aug. 2 after the director of the Embarcadero YMCA summer camp told authorities a counselor had “inappropriate contact with three juvenile campers,” San Francisco police officials said.
Authorities said they determined Blanchard obtained and sent sexually explicit pictures and video to the victims through social media and also inappropriately touched victims on camp field trips, police said.
“We have received reports from some campers that one of our camp counselors may have engaged in inappropriate communications on social media with those campers,” Stacy Del Monte, associate executive director of the Embarcadero YMCA, wrote in a memo to campers’ parents on Sept. 5.
In the days after the first reports, investigators secured a warrant for Blanchard’s arrest but determined he had fled to Arizona, where the marshals tracked him down.
Once back in San Francisco, Blanchard will be arrested on suspicion of five counts of child molestation, four counts of sending harmful material to a minor, production of child pornography, and three counts of annoying or molesting a child.
“We work every day to protect our kids,” said Jane Packer, a spokeswoman for the YMCA of San Francisco. “These accusations are troubling, and we’re working closely with authorities to make sure whatever information they need, they get.”
Packer stressed that the YMCA has a rigorous screening process for camp counselors, which includes a criminal background check and comprehensive interview process.
Counselors must also do mandatory child safety training and are never allowed to be alone with children, she said.
Anyone who believes they may be a victim in the case or with more information about the incidents can call the San Francisco Police Department’s Special Victims Unit at (415) 558-5500. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky @sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky