PITTSBURGH — A truancy advocate worker is accused of having a sexual relationship with a teenager.
According to court documents, Britta Emberg, 32, was working for Youth Advocate Program, which deals with Allegheny County Children, Youth and Family, when the alleged relationship began.
Emberg is charged with multiple felonies after a teen victim revealed to authorities that the two had been involved in a romantic relationship for almost two years dating back to 2019 when the young girl was just 14 years old.
Channel 11 News contacted an expert with the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect to weigh in on the case.
“Often time relationships like this start with a term we call grooming which is a process when someone may do kind generous things for a person to build trust,” said Joyce Lukima the director of the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect.
Detailed in the criminal complaint police said Emberg would pick the girl up from school and at home, and they found multiple text messages between Emberg and the young girl, where Emberg would discuss marriage, calling the girl her wife, and promising a future together if they could keep their relationship a secret.
We did some digging and learned that Emberg has a decades-long career working with youth. The former Fox Chapel girls’ basketball coach has been employed with various youth organizations and holds a degree in psychology. At the time of these allegations, she worked for the Youth Advocacy Program (YAP).
We reached out to the organization to find out if Emberg had been terminated following the charges, but they wouldn’t say - and instead provided this statement.
“We take this allegation seriously and are cooperating with any related investigation. With child well-being and safety as our number one priority, we have zero tolerance for abuse,” stated Ryanne Persinger, the National Communications Director for Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.
We asked our expert are there were ways that the organization could have prevented this incident, she said it was unclear but said there are resources to help identify misconduct.
“The Center for Disease Control has a great guide on their website that talks about things youth services can do to prevent child sex abuse from happening,” she explained.
Emberg is currently facing several felony charges.
A link to the Center for Disease Control’s preventive guide: https://www.cdc.gov/child-abuse-neglect/communication-resources/PreventingChildSexualAbuse-a.pdf.
If survivors or family members in Pennsylvania need help we provide 24/7 support they can reach a counselor at 888-772-7227 or https://pcar.org/help-in-pa.
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