By Paul Pinkham
The Times-Union
July 3, 2008
An employee of a Baker County home for troubled youths has been arrested on a child abuse charge by deputies documenting evidence of sexual activity between teenage residents.
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Deputies also arrested an 18-year-old resident of Camp Tracey on a charge of fondling a younger resident, but said sexual acts between the younger teens weren't criminal because they were consensual.
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| Lewis |
The children's home, located on farmland north of Glen St. Mary, is run by Harvest Baptist Church of Jacksonville. Since 2003, the church has settled a half-dozen lawsuits filed by former residents citing physical and sexual abuse by camp workers and older residents, but Monday's arrest of "dorm father" John Edward Wilson, 46, is the first on a child abuse charge in at least 20 years, Baker County Sheriff Joey Dobson said.
"This certainly supports the allegations that our clients made," said Miami attorney Joel Magolnick, who represented six former residents in lawsuits against the church. "I'm glad that the Sheriff's Office is investigating the allegations of abuse and taking action."
Wilson's phone was disconnected. He was released from jail on his own recognizance under the condition that he stay away from the camp. He denied the allegations when he turned himself in, but refused to speak further with deputies, an arrest report says.
Longtime Harvest pastor Wilford McCormick said he didn't want to comment because the arrests just occurred.
The Times-Union reached the father of 18-year-old Benjamin Valentin Lewis of St. Augustine, who also declined comment on his son's charge of lewd and lascivious behavior with a child.
Lewis remained in the Baker County jail Wednesday on $3,000 bail. He told deputies in a recorded interview last week that he didn't realize what he is accused of doing was illegal.
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| Wilson |
The charge is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Deputies called to camp
Deputies said they were called to the camp June 25 by staff to investigate sexual activity between male students, including Lewis. While deputies questioned them about that, four boys also recounted being choked, slammed and thrown by Wilson.
"John Wilson has an anger problem that all of the juvenile residents are aware of," an arrest report quotes one teen as saying.
Deputies obtained a warrant for one count of child abuse without great bodily harm involving the same 14-year-old victim Lewis is charged with fondling. The report says deputies were told the teen was choked and had his head slammed against the wall after failing to respond, "Yes, sir," when Wilson told him to sit down and shut up.
The charge is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Other agencies step in
Dobson said several of the boys were re-interviewed Wednesday by the First Coast Child Protection Team, and their accounts have remained consistent. The Florida Department of Children and Families also is investigating, said spokesman John Harrell.
"We are disturbed by these allegations," Harrell said. "Safety of children is our primary concern."
McCormick started Camp Tracey in 1981 to use biblical discipline to turn youths from lives of crime, addiction and rebelliousness. The camp houses 40 to 50 boys and girls in segregated dorms. It is not licensed by the state because of a religious exemption.
Contact: paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com.
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