The YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County has settled a lawsuit brought against it by seven men who alleged they were sexually abused during the 1970s at a summer camp the agency operated.

Terms of the settlement, reached Sept. 2, were not disclosed. The case had been scheduled to go to trial next Monday.

The men sued the YMCA in 2007. They alleged a Camp Seymour counselor, Randy Tollefson, abused them when they attended the Key Peninsula camp as boys between 1975 and 1979.

The men, identified by their initials in the lawsuit, charged that the YMCA did not adequately investigate Tollefson’s background before hiring him and inadequately monitored him while he worked at the camp.

The YMCA denied the contentions in court filings.

Tollefson later was convicted of sex crimes against children in Pierce and King counties and spent 16 years in state prison. He then was sent to the state’s Special Commitment Center for dangerous sex offenders on McNeil Island, where he remains today.

His Pierce County victims included some of the men who brought the suit against the YMCA.

Attorneys for the men and the YMCA issued a joint statement Wednesday announcing the settlement.

“The parties have resolved the lawsuit to avoid the ongoing stress and trauma a trial would generate for the plaintiffs, and to allow the YMCA to focus its day-to-day work on its purpose of building strong kids, strong families and strong communities,” according to the statement.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644

adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com