By George Brennan
Cape Cod Times
April 12, 2011
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110412/NEWS11/110419958/-1/news
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| Camp Good News in Forestdale |
There are now 13 people who have come forward to allege sexual abuse by employees at Camp Good News, according to an attorney representing all of them.
Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney, said today the victims now include 11 men and two women who claim they were abused from the 1970s through the mid-1980s.
Alleged victims started coming forward after U.S. Sen. Scott Brown wrote in his autobiography that he was abused at a Christian camp on Cape Cod, later identified as Camp Good News.
In a prepared statement today, Camp Good News officials responded to the latest allegations: "Camp officials will tell their side of the story in an appropriate forum, rather than addressing these types of allegations in the media."
A week ago, after Garabedian said a victim had come forward and claimed abuse by an employee who still worked at that camp, the accused employee, Charles “Chuck” Devita, 43, committing suicide at the camp in his truck.
The Christian camp on Snake Pond late last week also lost its accreditation from the American Camp Association, which the camp had held since held by the camp since 1959. And on the same day, the camp announced it would not open this summer while police investigate the growing claims of sexual abuse at the camp.
“I'm seeing a domino effect,” Garabedian said.
At least three of the victims have named Devita as their alleged abuser, Garabedian said. He would not say if any of the latest victims to come forward have named Devita, saying he is conducting his own investigation.
All 13 of the victims have been referred to the state police. The camp is being investigated by the Sandwich police and Massachusetts State Police detectives working for the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office.
The 214-acre camp is owned by the Willard family who founded it in 1935.
Contact: gbrennan@capecodonline.com
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