with N. Westchester Boys & Girls Club, Village of Mt Kisco & Chappaqua SD
James “Jimmy” Collins
Sixteen men have settled their sexual abuse civil lawsuits against James Collins, a former employee of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester in the Village of Mount Kisco and the Chappaqua School District.
Collins, now in prison, is accused of sexually abusing 16 boys over a period of 40 years, starting in the 1970’s in his role as a coach, counselor and janitor for the Village of Mt. Kisco, the Boys Club of Northern Westchester and Chappaqua School District.
The civil lawsuits alleged widespread and serial acts of sexual abuse by James Collins, a former employee of the Village of Mt. Kisco, the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, and Chappaqua Central School District when the victims were minors. They were filed under the New York Child Victims Act which opened a window in the statute of limitations allowing victims of past child sexual abuse to bring claims.
The lawsuits also allege that adult employees of the Village of Mt. Kisco, the Chappaqua Central School District and the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester County witnessed Collins’ inappropriate and abusive behavior with young boys including the victims and took no action to stop him or report him to law enforcement.
50 years after he began his sex abuse against young boys, Collins was arrested in November of 2023. One of the charges was for paying for sex with an underage boy in the bathroom of the Chappaqua Library. Collins later admitted to New Castle Police to the illegal act with the 15-year old.
After being released on bail, Collins attempted to meet up with the boy again, communicating on Snapchat. But this time, undercover agents arrested him and he is now behind bars, likely for the rest of his life.
The question that many with knowledge of Collins acts has is how was he able to stay out of the hands of law enforcement for decades? And how did he stay out of jail once the sex abuse lawsuits were filed, starting in 2020?
Collins was the owner of “Jimmy’s” Bar in Katonah. The bar was recently sold and demolished. He is charged with one count of attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, as well as one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Collins is currently incarcerated in a federal facility.
“More specifically, upon information and belief, Plaintiff alleges that several employees of BGC witnessed and/or knew of Collins’ grooming and/or sexual misconduct towards children, including BGC employees who oversaw the swimming facilities, the secretary for BGC, and the BGC director of athletics.
“More specifically, upon information and belief, Plaintiff alleges that Collins had been arrested and/or charged for sexual misconduct; however, certain individuals within the Bedford Hills Police Department (“BHPD”) assisted Collins in avoiding public scrutiny for these charges.” This part of the Civil suit has never been answered or who was it in the Bedford Police Department that aided Collins from facing justice for decades?
One of Collins’s co-workers, Ms. Carey, testified that she observed Collins and his behavior dating back to when she was 15-I6 years old working as a camp counselor. Carey also testified she observed Collins place his hands on multiple children when she was both a camp counselor and a lifeguard. Carey also witnessed Collins holding the bodies of various children close to him. On one specific occasion in 1980, she observed Collins put his hands inside and down the bathing suit of one boy in the pool.
Carey further testified that she told a supervisor about what she saw in detail and was told to mind her own business.
Read our prior story on this case at https://yonkerstimes.com/after-50-years-of-sexually-abusing-young-boys-james-collins-of-westchester-finally-behind-bars/
