Cheryl A. Madden has filed a Barnstable sexual abuse lawsuit against the same Cape Cod camp where US Senator Scott Brown claims he was sexually abused as a boy. Madden, 45, says that a janitor at the camp raped her more than once and that officials at Camp Good News failed to protect her.
The defendants of her Cape Cod sex abuse case are the camp, two of its executives, the man who allegedly assaulted her, and a counselor. Madden claims that the counselors failed to take action even though she was in the girls’ bathroom during one of the rapes. Madden says that the janitor raped her multiple times during the summers of 1973 (when she was 7), 1974, and 1975. Camp Good News says there is no merit to Madden’s claim.
Madden claims that memories of the abuse surfaced two years ago after her dad, who died, left Camp Good News $111,000. She believes that the defendants either knew or should have known that the janitor was molesting her. Madden is accusing camp officials of concealing, suppressing, and purposely preventing the disclosure of the child sex abuse incidents that occurred there.
After Senator Brown went public with his experience of sexual abuse at the camp, other campers also came forward with similar allegations. One camp employee, Charles “Chuck” Devita, killed himself after he was accused of sexually abusing campers.
Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse
Sometimes, a victim of sex abuse may “forget” what happened and not remember until years later. The forgetting may be an attempt to cope with and protect oneself from the trauma. Yet forgetting doesn’t mean that there aren’t repercussions for the victim.
Child sex abuse can cause severe emotional, sexual, and psychological damage for victims, and these injuries should be acknowledged. You should work with a Boston injury lawyer that knows how to handle cases involving Massachusetts sex abuse so that you can hold the abuser and those that enabled/allowed the abuse responsible.
Woman sues camp where Scott Brown was allegedly abused, Boston.com, August 18, 2011
Woman allegedly repeatedly raped by a janitor at Camp Good News, Cap Cod Today, August 18, 2011
Not unusual to forget childhood sexual abuse, Harvard.edu, October 12, 2006
Related Web Resources:
Camp Good News
Child Sex Abuse, National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
More Blog Posts:
Kingston, Massachusetts School Psychologist Placed on Leave Over Clergy Sex Abuse Allegations, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 25, 2011
Former Campers Step Forward Claiming They Were Victims of Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse at Camp Good News in Sandwich, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 13, 2011
Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawsuit: Victim Sues the Pope, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 24, 2010