Ocean City Beach Patrol facing multiple allegations of harassment, sexual assault

Authorities in Cape May County are investigating allegations in an anonymous Instagram account that members of the Ocean City Beach Patrol repeatedly preyed on younger female lifeguards, grooming and then sexually assaulting them as underage teenagers.

The account, named OCBP Predators, has been growing since last week, both in followers and in posts alleging accounts of predatory behavior, leading city officials to refer the allegations to county prosecutors and to urge any other potential victims to come forward.

The account was created by a former member of the Ocean City Beach Patrol who said in a telephone interview Monday that she started the account in response to a lifeguard who had been accused of improper behavior being allowed to return to the patrol. She declined to be identified by name.

“I had already come to the point where I was at peace with what happened to me,” she said. “I saw it happening to girls that I cared very much about.”

She said the county Prosecutor’s Office had, in fact, been in contact with her about the allegations.

Ocean City officials said late last week they were aware of the account, took it seriously, and were investigating the allegations, some of which are from recent summers, others dating back years. There are 165 positions on the Ocean City Beach Patrol, of which about 30 are held by women, said city spokesperson Doug Bergen.

The posts contain numerous references to alleged incidents in which girls as young as 13 were allegedly preyed upon by older lifeguards, who in several cases allegedly would expose themselves and, in several other cases, allegedly had committed sexual assault.

Two lifeguards, one poster wrote, followed “the same m.o. ... . flashing me their genitals, untying my bathing suit top, trying to take me under the music pier.

“The trauma these two caused runs so deep,” the poster wrote.

One poster was a visitor to the Jersey Shore town in 1996 who alleged that at age 12, she had lifeguards harass her for the entire two weeks she was on vacation, “constantly asking if they could touch my breasts,” and inviting her to parties.

“I can’t believe this was a common occurrence,” she wrote. “How sad and disgusting.”

Mayor Jay Gillian posted a letter on the city’s website saying that the Cape May County prosecutor was investigating, and that he had directed Fire Chief Jim Smith, whose department oversees the Beach Patrol, “to build on existing policies and do whatever it takes to ensure employees feel safe coming forward.

“The city has strict sexual harassment policies and procedures in place and acts immediately on every reported complaint,” Gillian said.

One poster recounted an instance of reporting abuse to the police and being told the behavior patterns were well known.

“As a mother of three former OCPB lifeguards this page is needed but upsets me terribly,” the poster wrote. “My daughter and I once went to the police station to report inappropriate behavior.”

The “@ocbp_predators” Instagram account quickly gained posts and followers. On Monday, the account had more than 6,000 followers and 159 posts, each of which detailed allegations of harassment, abuse or assault by lifeguards, with the victims both other lifeguards and visitors to the beaches of the resort.

The creator of the account, dubbed “The untold stories of pedophiles, predators, and inappropriate behavior on the beaches of America’s Greatest Family Resort,” said in the interview she personally knew the identities of the posters, though they are anonymous on the account.

The girls who were Ocean City lifeguards allegedly recalled days on the lifeguard stands filled with sexual questions, with older male guards showing them pictures of their genitalia, or, in one case, taking their hand and placing it on them.

Several posts described an apartment where parties were held that was the scene of some of the predatory behavior and alleged assaults, and a pattern of taking young lifeguards “under the Music Pier.” One poster described waking up after a party to being sexually assaulted by a lifeguard.

The allegations do not identify any lifeguards by name. The mayor, in his letter, urged any potential victims to contact the prosecutor’s office at 609-465-1135, report it anonymously through the Cape May County Sheriff’s Tip Line at cmcsheriff.net, or call Cape May County Crime Stoppers at 609-889-3597.