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  Student Defends Baker County Church Camp

By Ryan Duffy
First Coast News
July 4, 2008

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=112942&catid=3

[with video]

BAKER COUNTY, FL — The leaders of Harvest Baptist Church in Jacksonville remain silent on claims of abuse at their camp for troubled teens, Camp Tracey in Baker County.

But a senior at the church's school in Jacksonville, Sean Hollis, defends the church he grew up in.

"They're here for the teenagers that need help they're not here to make money, they're here for the teenagers that could either be dead or in jail and they have an alternative for a christian camp out here," says Hollis.

A staff member was arrested for child abuse at Camp Tracey and one teenager was arrested for sexual activity that involved seven other boys.

But Hollis says the church should not be blamed for it. "They're just praying and hoping everything goes away because honestly is wasn't their fault the kids started that stuff."

Now the investigation into the camp itself falls to the state, two agencies have interviewed several of the teens at the camp.

"We try to put that all together and then we come to a conclusion, do we think there's physical abuse, sexual abuse, some kind of neglect going on, then that's our opinion, that opinion get relayed to police," says Randell Alexander with the First Coast Child Protection Team.

Sean Hollis says the methods used by Harvest baptist are strict, but they have actually helped him through high school and kept him out of trouble.

 
 

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