At the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of all of our members, their families and our staff.

In December 2020, we were contacted by Federal authorities who informed us that a former Y member, Michael Porter, was the subject of a federal criminal complaint and has been in custody since that time. Mr. Porter was indicted on July 13, 2021 on a variety of charges involving the production, receipt and possession of child pornography. There is no current threat from this individual to anyone using the Y’s facilities. However, in an effort to be transparent, we have shared additional details of the situation with our members, especially those members who may have visited the same Y facilities the individual visited while he was a member.

Porter was an active member of the YMCA from 2006 until March 2020, when facilities closed due to COVID. Our records indicate he visited three YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago locations: South Side YMCA, High Ridge YMCA, and Leaning Tower YMCA. As with all our members, Porter’s name and information were regularly checked against the National Sex Offender Database, but no records were found prior to the government’s criminal complaint. Despite the fact that our policies prohibit any video recording or picture taking in our locker rooms or in our pool/aquatic facilities without permission, the Federal authorities have informed us that they believe Porter used concealed cameras to surreptitiously videotape, and on two known occasions inappropriately touch, boys in the locker rooms at one or more of these facilities. At this time, the Federal authorities have found no evidence to suggest Porter distributed the videos he surreptitiously captured.

We are disgusted and deeply saddened by the allegations that have been raised and the possibility this individual may have compromised Y members’ and their children’s and families’ privacy or worse.

The Y makes every effort possible to identify and prevent child abuse and neglect. Since 2015, the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago has been accredited (the highest-level certification) by Praesidium, the well-respected child abuse prevention organization, consultant and author of best practices in organizational abuse prevention. The Y has well-established and longstanding safety protocols in place to protect those who pass through our doors. Those protocols include requiring members and guests to swipe their membership cards or sign in before entering any of our facilities; extensive background checks for full- and part-time employees, volunteers and vendors; and recurring screenings of all members and employees against state sex offender registries and the National Sex Offender Database. Additionally, Y employees are trained Mandated Reporters in Illinois, meaning they are required by law to report suspected neglect or abuse.

We continue to fully cooperate with the authorities to ensure that nothing we do compromises their efforts to seek appropriate justice in this matter. As those processes unfold, we will continue to take prudent and appropriate action to keep everyone’s safety and well-being at the forefront of our work. This includes making any changes that Praesidium and other child welfare experts may recommend to protect the children and families in our care.