Long Island Man Says He Was Molested As a Boy by Counselor at Sullivan Summer Camp, Adam Bosch, Times Herald-Record, February 1, 2009

Long Island Man Says He Was Molested As a Boy by Counselor at Sullivan Summer Camp

By Adam Bosch
Times Herald-Record
February 1, 2009

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090201/NEWS/902010324

Cory Legnetti, 21, of Long Island, has filed a lawsuit against a former counselor at Camp Chipinaw in Swan Lake, accusing the counselor of repeatedly fondling him from 1998 to 2000.
Photo by Mary Legnetti

SWAN LAKE — A Long Island man claims he was sexually molested as a boy by a counselor at a well-known, upscale summer camp in Sullivan County.

Cory Legnetti, now 21, filed a lawsuit last month against Peter Evans, 38, a former longtime counselor at Camp Chipinaw in Swan Lake, accusing Evans of repeatedly fondling him from 1998 to 2000.

Legnetti is also suing Camp Chipinaw, charging the camp with forgoing a background check on Evans.

Legnetti's mother, Mary Legnetti, told the Times Herald-Record that Evans took advantage of her son inside the camp cabins. The mother said a typical ploy went like this: If the child was thirsty, Evans would offer him a drink, bring him to the cabin and fondle him.

"I'm going to get this guy if it's the last thing we do," Mary Legnetti said. "He needs to be away from children; he can go pump gas, for all I care."

The suit claims that Evans "sexually molested several children," but Mary Legnetti and the family's attorney wouldn't elaborate on other victims.

Legnetti long suspected something was troubling her son. He threw angry fits, fell into the clutches of substance abuse and ignored schoolwork. She said Cory began mulling the alleged molestation against him when the Catholic priest scandal jogged his memory. Still, he was too embarrassed to talk until recently.

Now he's seeing a therapist and most of his ill behavior has stopped, Mary Legnetti said.

Legnetti is a chef for the U.S. Coast Guard in California. Evans, a British native, has been a fifth-grade math teacher for 15 years at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy, a prominent school in Boca Raton, Fla. The school placed him on administrative leave last week when it learned of the allegations.

Evans' attorney, Mark Sherman, told a Florida television station that Evans denies the charges, plans to fight them and will file a countersuit for slander.

Camp Chipinaw, established in 1926, also denied the charges. In a statement Friday, the camp said it conducts background checks on all employees, and that Evans was recruited by "a leading firm that specializes in recruiting and screening employees for summer camp positions in the United States."

State law requires summer camps to screen employees for pending criminal cases or convictions, using databases that include the sex offender registry.

"At no time did we receive a report or indication from the alleged victim, his family, authorities or other camp attendees at the time in question that Mr. Evans engaged in any improper conduct while at camp," Chipinaw's owners said.

State police in Liberty interviewed Cory Legnetti, but criminal charges appear unlikely because of a lack of evidence and the statute of limitations, investigators said.

Contact: abosch@th-record.com