MUSKEGON, MI -- The Muskegon Family YMCA in Muskegon, MI, recently terminated 20 memberships after finding members’ names on the Michigan State Police Sex Offender Registry during a recent check, according to the Muskegon Chronicle.
“It was a big shock for us,” Luke Seward, chief executive officer, told the newspaper. “We didn't expect we'd find 20.”
The Y, which has about 7,000 members, adopted a sex offenders' policy after its insurance carrier suggested it, Seward told the paper.
Local Y staff compared the names in the area ZIP codes on the state's sex offender registry to the membership list. In September, the board of directors approved the policy, and letters were mailed to terminated members. Some of the 20 who had their memberships terminated were part of family memberships, but only the individual was banned from the facility, the newspaper reported.
The Y is having its membership application reprinted with a statement concerning the new policy. New members will be checked against the sex offender registry.
“We decided to take a look, because we don't want sex offenders around here,” Seward told the newspaper. “We, as a society, get more protective when children are involved.”