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	Attorney Says 13 Cape Camp Victims Allege Abuse By Laura Crimaldi Boston Herald April 12, 2011 http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0412attorney_says_more_cape_camp_victims_allege_abuse/srvc=home&position=0 An attorney representing former campers who say they were sexually abused at a Cape Cod Christian camp today announced 13 people have now come forward, including one who claims being molested within five years of when U.S. Sen. Scott Brown attended the camp. The accusers, 11 men and two women, said they were abused at the camp during the 1970s and 1980s, said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who disclosed the new allegations against Camp Good News during a Boston press conference today. One alleged assault took place as recently as the 1990s, he said. Brown revealed in his memoir that he was molested in the 1970s at a camp later identified by others as Camp Good News. “If 13 people have contacted me within about a month claiming to have been sexually molested at this camp, then there’s something wrong with this camp and the supervisors aren’t confronting it,” said Garabedian. The camp, which announced last Friday it was closing for the summer after losing its accreditation from the American Camp Association, issued a one-sentence statement through a spokeswoman: “Camp officials will tell their side of the story in an appropriate forum, rather than addressing these types of allegations in the media.” Two men and one woman claim they were molested by Charles “Chuck” Devita, Garabedian said. Devita committed suicide last Wednesday after a child sex abuse complaint about him involving a 10-year-old boy who attended the camp in 1985 was presented to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe. So far Garabedian has heard complaints about “under five” different alleged molesters at the camp. He declined to be more specific. All the accused abusers are male, he said. Three former camp staffers have also come forward, including one who claimed she confronted officials about Devita’s behavior, Garabedian said. He added this woman did not witness Devita do anything inappropriate, but was concerned about the amount of time he spent with young children. Garabedian said the woman was rebuffed. “They told her she had too much hate in her heart,” Garabedian said. Some of the former campers have spoken with state police investigating the abuse claims, said Garabedian, who declined to say how many of his clients have talked with authorities. He also said three former campers at separate camps in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont have also contacted his office claiming to have experienced sexual abuse. Garabadien declined to name the camps. The Camp Good News allegations are similar to those lodged against Catholic priests during the clergy sex abuse crisis, Garabedian said. “It looks just like it. It looks just like children were being sexually molested. Supervisors were turning their backs and everything was hushed up because business was good financially,” he said. Prosecutors have said they will continue to probe the allegations despite Devita’s suicide. Garabedian also said he is scrutinizing the camp accreditation body to see whether their review of Camp Good News was adequate. Contact: -lcrimaldi@bostonherald.com
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