Camp abuse case settled out of court
By Sean Batura, Kerrville Daily Times, Texas | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The boy in question was
6 years old in 2009, when he was said to have been touched above a towel by Scott Zirus, who's in prison serving a 40-year sentence after having been convicted in 2010 of molesting three other boys ages 6 to 8 at the camp. The boy felt comfortable returning to the camp in 2011, but in the following year, another counselor was accused of inappropriate touching and was fired, although prosecutors declined to press charges due to a lack of evidence. In the second case, the counselor, an 18- or 19-year-old man, was accused of slapping the boy's butt, but tearfully denied doing anything wrong, Lopez said. By contrast, Zirus was arrested at the
The boy's family is the seventh one to settle with the camp and the staffing agency. Previous settlements totaled at least
The camp, which has operated for 92 years, was bought by the Ragsdale family in 1966, and since that time more than 2,500 counselors and 10,000 boys have been through it without an incident on the order of Zirus, Lopez said.
Lopez said
"We would hope that by this point,
In 2009, the year allegations against Zirus surfaced, camp owner
"
Zirus this year filed an appeal of his case in federal court, alleging his guilty plea was not voluntary and his defense ineffective, among other claims.
Last month, he made a plea to Australian Foreign Affairs Minister
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