Leaders of a midget football camp face felony charges after allegations of physical and verbal abuse of children. The Somerset County District Attorney filed child endangerment charges Wednesday against three people with the Steel Valley Midget Football Association.
The suspects ran Camp Ruffhouse at Laurel Hill State Park from July 7 -12 for eleven to 14 year olds from the Homestead area. D.A. Lisa Lazzari-Strasiser said leaders encouraged older children to physically and verbally abuse younger ones.
“It was a culture that fostered malicious, intentional attacks physically and emotionally, on the children that were attending the camp by other children that were attending the camp,” she stated.
According to the criminal complaint, the abuse was discovered by park rangers who investigated after a visitor reported seeing two boys assaulting another boy. The victim told them was running away because of abuse from other campers and mistreatment by coaches.
Lazzari-Strasiser said what the children were subjected to went way beyond bullying.
“The tipping point for us in this investigation was the allegations that during the use of bathroom facilities including showers, that there were children that were exposed to inappropriate touching of their private parts indecent exposure on behalf of other campers and physical assaults,” she said. And she added, “that’s a complete invasion of privacy. These are 11 to 14-year-olds. These aren’t teenagers that may have developed a skill set to respond to this type of behavior.”
According to Lazzari-Strasiser, campers who complained were called snitches , told to fight back, made to run laps, or stand in the middle of hitting drills.
The DA said the Steel Valley Midget Football Association has refused to cooperate with the investigation or provide a roster of the children who had registered for the camp. According to the park, 96 had signed up.
Lazzari-Strasiser hopes the filing of charges prompts other parents and children to come forward.
Anyone with information is urged to call Laurel Hill State Park at 814-445-7725 and ask for Chief Ranger Jeremy Peck.
