The Stunning Similarities Between Yoni & Roxie’s Deaths

These similarities between the two facilities that killed young children are eerie. However, parents should be keenly aware that the vast majority of camps that are caught abusing (including injuring and killing) children follow an eerily similar public relations-driven “script” that obfuscates facts and shifts responsibility to other parties.

Yoni Gottesman attended a private summer camp in August of 2005. Roxie Forbes attended a private summer camp in June of 2019.

Yoni’s camp allegedly gave him a swim test, determined he was not a fully capable swimmer and relegated him to hold on to the side of the pool. Roxie’s camp determined she was a non-swimmer and relegated her to the steps area.

Both camps claimed their pool facility was safe.

Both camps claimed they had well-trained lifeguards.

Both children were killed by wholly preventable drownings due to gross negligence.

Both facilities remained open after killing children.

Both facilities retained their employees.

Counselors-lifeguards ignored Yoni drowning for at least eight minutes. Counselor-lifeguards apparently ignored Roxie drowning for at least five minutes if not much longer.

Counselors-lifeguards from both camps administered flawed rescue and CPR efforts.

Both camps delayed calling 911.

After both drowning deaths, the State of California Department of Social Services investigated the camps and determined both were actually illegal childcare facilities without a license and were not license-exempt.

Both facilities improperly took advantage of exemptions to avoid having to license their operations.

Both camps were co-mingling personal and business assets, attempting to bury or obfuscate their wealth.

Both camps apparently committed fraud. Yoni’s camp fraudulently transferred assets. Roxie’s camp fraudulently certified counselors as lifeguards (no requisite training or testing) and also apparently certified counselors and the owner-director and assistant director in CPR, First Aid and AED without proper training.

According to Yoni’s family’s attorney, the facility “knowingly took
shortcuts, failed to properly train staff, and utterly ignored the need to implement basic safety protocols. The club also failed to obtain the necessary licenses for running a child care facility.”

Roxie’s family’s attorneys proffered a very similar explanation.

Yoni’s facility director aggressively attempted to cover up the facts and shift the blame to his own employees.

Roxie’s facility director Cara DiMassa immediately and aggressively attempted to cover up the facts and shift the blame to Roxie herself. DiMassa wrote a series of entirely erroneous emails to her large databases, she removed Roxie’s parents from the parent database without permission and while withholding their $3,000+ camp tuition and she continues to deny any accountability. However, her own counselors have admitted to neglecting Roxie and to holding fraudulent certifications which DiMassa orchestrated with the American Red Cross instructor, according to public documents and testimony.

Both facilities withheld vital information related to the preventable drownings that occurred due to gross negligence. Yoni’s facility failed to turn over the video of the drowning. Roxie’s facility has withheld numerous documents including pool logs and an apparent non-disclosure agreement that facility owner Joe DiMassa demanded from one of the minor counselors responsible for neglecting Roxie to death. DiMassa demanded that she sign the NDA without her parents present. Defense counsel contends that they do not have to provide that document because it is “work product,” an entirely inane legal argument.

Yoni’s facility baselessly tried to disqualify his parents’ attorney.

Summerkids’ attorney Holm continues to attempt to humiliate the Forbes family and even baselessly jeopardize Roxie’s mother’s career in an attempt to keep them quiet about the preventable death, ignoring regulations, free speech and Prior Restraint laws that protect victims’ rights.

Holm and her clients, the DiMassa family, have forced Roxie’s parents to confront the careless indifference toward personal freedoms, truths and facts. Numerous persons previously associated with the DiMassa family’s operation have delivered accounts of the DiMassa’s intimidating, disturbing pattern of behavior over the years.

Soon after Yoni’s death, the facility changed management.

Soon after Roxie’s death, assistant director Jaimi Harrison quit after a decade of working for the DiMassa family. Director Cara DiMassa hired a replacement with no camp experience. DiMassa’s LinkedIn recruitment ad for the job not-so-subtly shifted blame toward Harrison.

Other wholly preventable safety incidents occurred at Yoni’s facility and the sister facility.

Other preventable safety incidents occurred at Roxie’s facility, including a very serious one only weeks after Roxie’s killing. The DiMassa’s, however, said to media that Roxie’s death was the only serious safety incident in their history, as if one preventable death should be acceptable to any parent. The DiMassas and Harrison admitted to sending at least eight children to the hospital.