JENNERSTOWN — Two counselors at a popular Jenner Township Christian camp are accused of swinging naked from the rafters and playing sexually explicit games with young boys in a cabin.
Eric James Rumbaugh, 18, of Pompton Plains, N.J., and Simeon Harrar, 19 of Due West, S.C., counselors at Summer’s Best Two Weeks, were charged Friday with child endangerment, indecent exposure and corruption of minors.
Authorities said a 14-year-old boy who attended camp last week at Lake Gloria told his mother that counselors would swing from the rafters unclothed and play “Naked Mafia,” a game involving inappropriate touching.
Ten young male campers were present in the cabin, state police said.
“They’re really some quality guys who made some very poor decisions, and unfortunately didn’t discern what was appropriate with regard to these 10 boys,” said Kent Biery, executive director at Summer’s Best Two Weeks.
“The bottom line is we can’t have that here,” he said.
“The purpose of Summer’s Best Two Weeks is to form young leaders who make good decisions. Unfortunately, in something like this, you convey something other than that goal. This will be addressed.”
Troopers Joel Penatzer and Terry Wilson, along with two caseworkers from Somerset County Children & Youth Services, interviewed Rumbaugh Friday.
The campers also had “naked time in their cabin,” Penatzer said in a court document.
State police said the incidents allegedly occurred between July 7 and Friday.
Rumbaugh and Harrar each was released on $10,000 unsecured bail, pending preliminary hearings tentatively set for Aug. 7 before District Judge Susan Mankamyer of Boswell.
As conditions of their bond, they are to have no contact with victims or witnesses, and no unsupervised contact with children under age 18.
Summer’s Best operates the nondenominational camps at Lake Gloria and the Quemahoning Reservoir, serving about 3,000 campers a year.
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Camp counselors charged with indecent exposure
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