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  Former Cape Camper Claims She Was Abused

TheBostonChannel
August 19, 2011

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/28909092/detail.html

[with video]

A Cape Cod camp thrust into the national spotlight because of abuse allegations is now facing a lawsuit.

Camp Good News is the same camp Sen. Scott Brown attended, but he has never said whether that is the camp where he was sexually abused as a child.

A Florida woman is suing the camp, claiming she was sexually assaulted, battered and raped in the summers of 1973, 1974 and 1975.

Cheryl Madden, 45, of Daytona Beach, Fla., said her abuser was a camp janitor, and one attack happened in the presence of a camp counselor in a girl's bathroom.

"Child molestation hell is what they put me through," Madden said. "I needed a safe haven. I needed a safe haven from what was supposed to be my safe haven."

In the complaint, assailant is identified only as John Doe and the counselor as Mary Moe because Madden cannot remember their names.

Camp Good News said in a statement that they are "well aware of the plaintiff's allegations and believe there is no merit to them. We look forward to challenging the specifics in court."

Madden said she grew up in an abusive home. She said her late father left more than $100,000 to the camp, even though he knew his daughter claimed she was molested at the camp.

"The fact that her late father left a significant amount of money to the camp, some of which the camp returned to the plaintiff, may also be a factor in her filing suit," the camp said in a statement.

"Cheryl told them about her abuse in April 2009, so they had the opportunity at that point to do something, to say something," Madden's attorney, Carmen Durso, said.

Madden sent her teenage son to the camp in 2009 and 2010.

"It is interesting to note that she maintained close contact with camp officials for more than two decades after her alleged abuse and even sent her own son to the camp as recently as last year," the camp said in a statement.

 
 

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