One night, Kanakuk Kamps counselors “packed every single camper, like 300 kids … in a mosh pit type of thing,” said Caroline, who was 13. “They throw all these bubbles on you. It’s a fun event.”
The fun ended when Caroline felt a male camper slide his hands into her athletic shorts.
“‘Excuse you!’ And I said some mean words,” she said. The next morning, Caroline said, three other girls tearfully told her they’d been assaulted by the same camper.
She said they reported it to their counselor, who arranged a meeting with camp director Keith Chancey. Caroline and one other girl gathered the courage to relay what happened.
Camp leaders rebuked the girls, not the boy, she said.
“We believe in salvation, we don’t believe in punishment, Jesus forgives, and we are going to forgive the camper,” Caroline said Chancey told her. “We’re going to help him through his problems.”
That’s when Caroline, who asked not to be identified by her full name, said she learned first-hand how the camp responded to reported abuse.
While Caroline was discussing the groping incident with Chancey in 2016, she recalled that he brought the boy into the meeting. She said the boy admitted he “may have” groped the girls, but Chancey wanted the girls to apologize to the boy for making the accusation.
Caroline refused. She accused the boy of “lying in the eyes of the Lord.”
“We’re not bringing the Lord into this,” Chancey interrupted, according to Caroline.
