I'm going to jump in here and ask the question of why Second Mile CEO & licensed child psychologist Dr. Jack Raykovitz did not discuss the red flags of grooming behavior with Jerry and put a stop to it.
"sexual intent" or not, the fact remains that Second Mile leadership knew that their charity founder, fundraiser and face of the organization was exhibiting grooming behavior around Second Mile youth.
This would be toxic for any children's charity if their founder was then accused of sexual behavior with their minor clients, especially clients that come from dysfunctional homes and have histories of social, emotional and behavioral problems that might only add fuel to the fire.
The signs of grooming are clearly explained here:
Jerry was not a licensed social worker, and had no clinical experience working with this population. He
chose to immerse himself with a troubled population; he
chose to ignore best practices for working with minors; he
chose to not protect himself, his family and his charity by ignoring how his behavior would place himself at risk; he
chose to surf along the edge of plausible deniability - even after the cops set up a sting.
In other words - you know you are placing yourself with dirtball kids from crappy families with trailer trash mothers. Yes, I said it - that's the reality. It's not enough to say "I love working with youth, improving their lives and my mission is honorable" - you have to ask yourself -
"what if one of these little bastards accuses me of a crime?". "I have a lot to lose here". "How can I protect myself and my family?"
That's on Jerry, and by extent - leadership at Second Mile. I have yet to get an explanation as to why what is
clearly grooming behavior as established by the very profession Second Mile CEO Jack Raykovitz is licensed in, was acceptable in the figurehead of the Second Mile children's charity.