Western NC camp facing probe for child death says court should dismiss sexual abuse suit
ASHEVILLE - A therapeutic wilderness camp being investigated for the Feb. 3 death of a child has now responded to an unrelated lawsuit by a former camper, denying claims of negligence in the camper's sexual assault.
Former camper Gertrude A. Seigel filed a suit Feb. 10 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, saying in 2016 she was "made to suffer as a 12-year-old child because of the negligent, reckless, wanton and tortious acts and omissions of Trails Carolina" and therapist Derry O'Kane.
Trails Carolina is licensed by the state as a 108-bed therapeutic camp for children and adolescents from all disability groups. According to its website, the camp charges an average of $66,000 for an 83-day outdoor experiential mental health treatment program.
The suit was filed a week after the death of a 12-year-old child at the camp in the Transylvania County community of Lake Toxaway. The camp has been temporarily shut down by state health regulators. Law enforcement and regulatory investigations are ongoing. The camp recently took legal action against the closure and the removal of campers. Camp staff said the child, who is from New York, was found dead the morning after they arrived.
Seigel, who then and now lives in Vermont, said in the suit that she was "gooned" − or taken by force − by a man and woman she didn't know and brought to the camp. While there, she was sexually assaulted by another camper "Jane Doe," something Seigel said she told staff about, though her assault was not appropriately addressed and not reported to her parents or law enforcement.
"Despite the façade of providing a safe and therapeutic residential treatment center for children, Trails Carolina has failed to screen and assess the children in its legal custody and creates an environment where troubled children have and do sexually assault other children," she said in the suit.
On March 6, the camp and O'Kane responded in a filing in the federal court denying the allegations and saying Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf should dismiss all claims.
The camp and O'Kane noted that Seigel's parents "elected to enroll her in the Trails Carolina program."
Along with dismissing the case, Siegal should pay attorneys' costs, they said.
"These answering defendants expressly deny that there was any breach of a standard of care. These answering defendants further expressly deny that they caused any harm to plaintiff," they said.
The Citizen Times reached out March 13 to Trails Carolina Executive Director Graham Shannonhouse and O'Kane. Camp spokesperson Wendy D'Alessandro declined to details of the cases outside court proceedings, but said "Trails denies the allegations and is confident the truth and facts will come forward."
Similar lawsuit
In a similar lawsuit filed in the same court in 2023 former camper Clara M. Mann alleged that she too suffered sexual abuse "because of the negligent, reckless, wanton, and tortious acts and omissions of defendant Trails Carolina."
Mann said that happened in 2019 when she was 14 years old and another child repeatedly assaulted and battered her.
In a filed response Trails Carolina denied it "breached any legal duty" or "duty of reasonable care" to Mann.
The suit was settled in Feb. 22. No details were made public.
Ongoing investigations, petition
Both the criminal and regulator investigations into the child's death are continuing, authorities said. On March 12, a Transylvania County Sheriff's spokesperson John Nicholson said deputies were still awaiting a toxicology test by the state medical examiner and diagnostics that were being performed by the FBI on seized computers.
On Feb. 27, the camp petitioned to contest the closure and removal of children. Those actions by the health department were without reasonable basis and are "detrimental to the health or safety of the children who were already in or intended to be in petitioner’s care," Trails Carolina said in the filing to the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings.
"In addition to precluding and disrupting the care and treatment of 15 to 20 highly dysregulated and emotionally unstable children, whose parents had invested heavily in researching, selecting and financing such care and treatment in the best interests of their children, the respondent’s actions have caused the cessation of the petitioner’s operations, revenue and ability to employ several dozen therapists, counselors and other staff people," the camp said in the filing.
When health officials announced the Feb. 16 closure decision, they declined to go into details because of the investigations but said "it was determined that action needed to be taken to ensure the health and safety of the children."
"The death at Trails Carolina is tragic and concerning. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the child who died, and commit to them that we are conducting a thorough investigation with our county partners and will take every appropriate step based on the outcome of our and other investigations," health officials said in the statement.
The next hearing is currently set for the week of June 3 in Waynesville, according to the case file. The Trails Carolina spokesperson D'Alessandro declined to say if the camp would seek to move the hearing to a date prior to the scheduled April reopening.
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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Western NC camp with child death: court should dismiss sex abuse suit
