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	Sex Abuse Accuser to Forgo Suit against Sandwich Camp By George Brennan Cape Cod Times May 17, 2011 http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110517/NEWS/105170316 Ron May, an alleged victim of sexual abuse at Camp Good News and the only one to speak publicly to date, has decided not to join a lawsuit against the summer camp. In an email to Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian and copied to the Times, May said he doesn't want to proceed as one of the plaintiffs, in part because the statute of limitations has expired for his particular case. "I want you to win your case and for all of the other deserving victims to be compensated and made as close to whole as possible and am willing to testify publicly as you see the need," May wrote. Camp Good News became the focus of a sexual abuse scandal on the heels of a claim this winter by U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., that he had been molested as a 10-year-old at a Christian camp on Cape Cod. In April, another man came forward to Garabedian saying he had been abused at Camp Good News in 1985 when he was 10. The man, now 36, told Garabedian the alleged abuser still worked at the camp and Garabedian filed a complaint with the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office on his behalf. Two days later, Charles "Chuck" Devita, a longtime camp employee, committed suicide amid the allegations. The media attention prompted more alleged victims, such as May, now 48 and living in Colorado, to come forward. Many of the 13 alleged victims — 11 men and two women as of mid-April — told Garabedian they had been inspired by Brown. The senator has declined to name the camp or the alleged molester, though Camp Good News officials have acknowledged Brown attended the Forestdale camp. In an interview Monday, May said he was told by Garabedian that along with the expired statute of limitations, his speaking out to the press likely eliminated the protection he would get from attorney-client privilege. He said another factor in his decision not to sue is that the counselor who allegedly assaulted him, Ernest "Ernie" Milnes, is dead. When Milnes died in 2009, he was a registered sex offender in Maryland. He was convicted of sexually abusing a child in 1997. In previous interviews with the Times, May has said camp leaders ignored warning signs that Milnes was abusing campers while he was there in the early 1970s. Campers led a mutiny against Milnes that forced leaders to move the boys to other cabins, according to May. "There's no way they didn't know what he was doing," May has said. May said that after he became a camp counselor himself, he told camp officials about Milnes, but was ignored. He said he also repeatedly complained about the practice of skinny-dipping led by some counselors at the camp, but again was rebuked. Though he won't be part of the lawsuit, May said he will fully cooperate with Massachusetts State Police in their criminal investigation. "I think that (camp) should close for good," May said. Camp officials "always call others hateful, but they could have taken care of this years ago." Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe declined to provide any details of the criminal investigation except to say that it is "ongoing." Asked if May's speaking to the press could jeopardize the criminal investigation, O'Keefe said comments from his office would present the greater hazard. "If I were making a lot of public comments, it would taint our ability to do an investigation," he said. "So that's why we don't make a lot of them." Nancy Sterling of ML Strategies, a spokeswoman for camp leaders, said Monday: "We understand why Ron would want to be supportive of any alleged victims and we will him keep in our prayers." Reached on his cellphone Monday, Garabedian said he couldn't comment until he had a chance to read May's email. He did not return calls later in the day. The camp was stripped of its accreditation by the American Camp Association in April and decided to close for the season this summer because of the criminal investigation.
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