David Dewees is dead. He laid down on the Subway tracks and committed suicide.
How could this ever happen to a bright young teacher at 32 years of age?
I did a Google Search of his name today and it appears in a lot of places. All the places and things listed may not be the same David Dewees. He was typical of his generation with comments and connections all over the internet.
There is no doubt that what has happened will leave a powerful affect on hundreds of students that he connected with at the Jarvis Collegiate where he taught.
David was involved with one group on the Internet called WAYN. On this group he was known as “Yukon16” and had 9 (friends) members in his location. But they are not necessarily ‘real friends’ with him.
One account of this past week described David as having been involved in Intervarsity Pioneer Camp.
From the article that quoted the Intervarsity Pioneer Camp owner, Geri Rodman, the following statement was made…
Quote…
Geri Rodman, President of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship (which owns and operates Ontario Pioneer Camp), says the allegations of sexual misconduct originated with two boys - fifteen and sixteen years old - who advised a camp leader (on August 17, 2009) that Dewees had been sending them sexually inappropriate email messages, in the spring of 2009. There were no allegations that any such activity happened at the camp, or during Mr. Dewees' tenure as a summer volunteer.
"Upon learning of the allegations, our camp leaders met with Mr. Dewees, advised him of the situation, terminated his services and escorted him off the property. We then notified the boys' families, along with local police and the Children's Aid. We have been cooperating with the authorities in their investigation of these allegations."
Rodman also said she has personally spoken with the families of the victims on behalf of Inter-Varsity. "We deeply regret that this has happened and extend our prayers to the boys and their families."
End Quote…
Allegations… escorted off the property… advised him of the situation…????
The allegations apparently came at the camp to another counselor from two boys aged 15 and 16… that David Dewees had been sending them sexually inappropriate email messages, in the spring of 2009.
The article goes on to say... ‘There were no allegations that any such activity happened at the camp, or during Mr. Dewees' tenure as a summer volunteer.’
Not enough is given for me at this point to make any decisions. Yet with the Toronto Police being involved and charges laid… David left his work at the school. It was over.
It might not have been true at all. Yet two boys said it did happen.
I have many questions. How did David know the boys back in the Spring of 2009? What was his contact – really – if at all…?
There is doubt in my mind at this point without all the questions being answered. Two boys – 15 and 16 – from Toronto at a Camp… that are disciplined by a counselor – are not allowed to do what they were trying to do… simply make up a story… and the dude is gone. No more hustle from this counselor. He was escorted off the property.
And I appreciate Geri Rodman’s statement and extended expression to the families of the boys… it is pretty much what any religious/volunteer director does under advice of a good lawyer would say. They have to protect their ‘God Given Butts’ – and a lot of money is involved.
Locally I have watched it happen as well. A Youth Volunteer at a church messed with a teenager in the group. I know the evidence and heard it all in court. He was guilty.
The minister was forced to lie about what had happened. If he would have told the truth – the church could have been sued. Quickly following the things that happened there – a new plan to protect children was acted on… and set in place.
I can see it happen easily. The boys hate the dude…hate their parents for making them attend this freakish Christian Camp… and lock horns with the teacher/volunteer.
Allegations only have to be made – never proven – and it is over. The Pioneer Camp will have to react this way. It is protecting – or appears to be protecting – their ministry. The politically charged atmosphere and the extreme danger of having any form of bad person – or perceived bad person – or thought of being a potentially bad person – makes “allegations” the actual charge, the actual conviction, and the actual sentence.
David Dewees was a dead man from the offset.
Now granted there is the possibility that no one knows what he “might have done”. The allegations made “might have done” – a reality.
In one interview that was given by the apartment superintendent of the place that David lived in it was revealing. The man speaking said that he thought the Media’s coverage may have tipped the balance (my interpretation).
The Media has a power that is way more destructive than any actual charge or any potential wrong doing. People offer mercy – the Media does not. It offers a story…partial or complete… it is all that matters – a story. Today the Media has switched from its partial guilty statements about Dewees… and offers that these were only allegations… and it is adamant on that one!
David’s brilliant teaching career was over. And David knew it. In our emotionally charged/perceived anti-sex offender, hatred powered attitudes towards the ultimate sin… he was a dead man. There was no hope at all!
How could I say such a thing? There is always hope… isn’t there? No is the direct answer to that question. No – never!
I have talked with the guys that have done bad things. I have talked to the guys that have been charged, convicted and sent away – then hated forever. I have talked to some that never did anything at all… but were convicted on circumstantial evidence that wasn’t true at all. And I can say – it does happen.
My heart goes out to David Dewees’ family. The very stupid reporter came to your patio door, knocked on it (not the front door) and asked if you have any comment to David’s death. How very, very stupid of that reporter… very, very, very, very stupid!
Will we ever know what happened? My guess is NO. The story has run. The Media is done. The Camp is protected. The school is protected. The family of David will grieve and morn for the rest of their lives at all their family celebrations. Maybe they will know…maybe not.
I wish I would have known you David. There was hope that could be given to you – from some of us. We are not all alike. Some of us care. We really do!
~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/
Source:
http://www.thestar.com/gta/crime/article/705111
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/10/03/11273076.html
http://theoriginalgreenwichdiva.com/2009/10/01/high-school-teacher-david-dewees-charged-with-luring-boys-for-sexual-touching/
http://www.wayn.com/profiles/Yukon16
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2009/01/c3202.html
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13 comments:
My heart aches for this terrible loss of human life. David, I never knew you, but may you rest in peace! My deepest sympathies to his grieving family...
Thank you for your comments.
How blessed I am to have known David. I am a better person for having him in my life.
This is a tragedy on so many levels, but for me the greatest sadness is to know that there are generations of students who will never have their lives touched by this great human being.
I wish you had known David too. You would have been inspired, you would have seen faith in action and you would have laughed, and that would have only been the beginning.
David ~ Love you forever and always!
I did know David and he was a brilliant young man with a true gift for teaching. I have also known his family for many years. We would have welcomed David into our home at any time!
As to the reporter .. very stupid is far too kind. There should be a law preventing that kind of outrage.
As to Pioneer camp, they covered their butts but what Christianity did they show to David who had worked with them for over ten years.
This is the most terrible kind of tragedy. Accusations or allegations are all that are required to ruin the life work of innocent people.
Think about it .. years of experience with campers, years of teaching and not one allegation of any kind. Then 2 friends who happened to be at camp together tell a story.
I know who I believe in and always will believe in! This is the most tragic senseless loss. David was a fine upstanding man from a caring and wonderful family. Their grief is immeasurable.
David Dewees taught both my sons and over the course of the last four years I had may meetings with him. It's hard to believe the accusations against him. But even more reprehensible was the conduct of the Toronto Star newspaper which erroneously published he was accused of the sexual assault of two 13 year old boys on Friday - which effectively ups the charges to an entirely more serious level.
The Toronto Star is just not the largest daily in the city but the largest one in the country, and distributed across the country. By the time their account was corrected, David Dewees was dead. There is a good probability the uncorrected account was the only one he saw.
As I have followed this story - other information has come my way. Students have reported their knowledge of other students that have purposefully used this kind of method to destroy teachers - with absolutely no truth. They know the power of Media and will use it to hurt and harm. Nothing is done to balance out the horror that can happen. There are no checks and balacnces.
I personally work with Pedophiles and some very high risk offenders - their own grief is major and their remorse is great. But David is not like the ones that I know and help to reintegrate into society.
I know also of other younger ministers that have been destroyed by these kinds of accusations. Months of horror, family life has been attacked, marriages lost, and not one word was true. Many have simply quit ministry.
Our Universal Safety net for the protection of children is a like a huge drag net that not only catches the bad - but also the good and they all die!!!!
Jeff...thanks...
Some assurance will need to be given by any church or camp in the future - that something will be done to protect the counselors from attacks. We have "Children at Risk" policies acted upon but not "Counselors at Risk". My prediction is that less and less quality leaders that could deeply have a positive effect on children and teens - will ever get involved again.
Knowing what I know now - I WOULD NOT GET INVOLVED WITH PIONEER CAMPS - EVER! You would have to be insane to do so.
But then people in the community do that with churches now. And if you are a minister as I am the sideway glances that I get is troubling to say the least. After other ministers have done what they have done with child porn and whatever - all ministers are subject to the same scorn.
Jeff you are so correct - no one will ever know if David did something bad - but now they simply assume that he did. He was found guilty without trial... he simply took care of a long drawn out misery for his family... I am writing more about this today...
Murray
I am sickened by this whole mess. I attended Pioneer Camp & can truly say my Spiritual life began there--I cannot believe how David was treated by the Directors. I can understand it--but think it is shameful .
I also am upset at the media--yesterday,on the 6 PM News, the police were asking for more "victims" to come forward.If there are "victims" then a crime has been committed---David was found guilty without a trial;
without any-one being able to speak up for him.
This is Wrong. Shame on Society.
Shame indeed. Dave was a deeply compassionate and caring person.
Truly, all of us (myself and husband included) who work at camp are subject to an accusation at any time. We also teach and know that if any child makes any claim, our jobs are done.
I hope that these two boys are happy with themselves (if, as I suspect) their stories are nothing but that-- stories.
I'm also a former Pioneer staff member, and one who had the honour of growing from David's leadership over the years, both as a camper and staff.
I'm not understanding, however, those who are saying that Pioneer's treatment of David was shameful. It's unfortunate, no doubt, but I see no other way around it.
Until David could be proven innocent, they only had two courses of action, having decided that there was credibility to the allegations. They could have let David remain onsite as camp staff, or they could have sent him home.
Letting him remain onsite would clearly not be the correct choice. I'm not implying David's guilt or his innocence here (that's for God and the accusers to know, not me), but what is worse: leaving an accused staff member on site and having him or her commit further offenses, or having that staff member sent home until the situation could be resolved? I can say with certainty that even if my wife or I (both former Pioneer staff) were accused, I would stand behind camp's decision to send either of us home. In fact, as someone who hopes to send my own children to Pioneer in years to come, the camp would lose all credibility in my mind if they did not send an accused person home.
Of course, I see no such need for this if camp can reasonably establish that the claims are false in short order, but the allegations presented against David were based on his actions previous to camp in 2009. Pioneer should not be directly involved in conducting an investigation into occurrences outside of camp - sending David home was the only prudent action.
The only way I could see Pioneer's actions as shameful would be if the decision to have David leave was made immediately after the children accused him, with no attempt at probing for details as best as possible, or if his departure was done in an overly negative manner (think corporations who have security rough someone up on the way out of the building, or forcing someone to leave without even letting them collect their personal effects). From what I know of the involved staff (I've known the current Boys' Camp director since before I even knew David), my strong suspicion is that his dismissal was done with sorrow and with prayer, not in any manner that could be considered shameful. I have yet to see anything in the media that says anything more than 'he was escorted from camp property'.
If anyone thinks Pioneer made the wrong decision in sending him home, I humbly suggest that you consider what you would want done if your child had been at Boys' Camp this summer, interacting with David. Would you still think it was shameful if your own child's safety was potentially at risk? Tragic, no doubt, but shameful?
Also, while there's plenty to be upset at the media for, police asking for 'victims' is in no way a public admission of his guilt - unless the manner of asking is, 'We'd like all other victims to come forward', rather than 'If there are any other victims...'.
If people come forward and it can be established somehow that their claims are indeed accurate (Internet chat and e-mail logs seem the likely method here), then yes, a crime was committed - as much as many of us love David, none of us can say with total certainty that this isn't the case.
The shame from the media in this case in particular was the fact that the Toronto Star printed the wrong charges (sexual assault on two 13-year-olds) on Saturday, did not issue a correction (to my knowledge), and then allowed Rosie DiManno to write a putrid opinion piece on Monday assuming his guilt. The shame in general is that the media is allowed to have a field day with accusations - the accused are offered no protection. The police exploring the issue further may be pointless now, but is not shameful. It's the media that called him guilty; the police, to my knowledge, have only shown due diligence.
Let us all remember that though David was a dear friend to many of us, he was not a close friend with most people. We turn a blind eye to the injustices of the media until it affects us directly. If we should be taking something from this, it's that the media can destroy the lives all kinds of people, not just David's. It's a sad world we live in when we're only willing to fight a battle when it affects us.
To quote Bonhoeffer, "First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."
Let David's portrayal in the media and its impact on his emotions leading up to his death spur us to prayer and action; anything else will just waste our sorrow.
Mike... thanks for the comment and suggestions.
I would like to add a further thought to your suggestion that Pioneer Camp had one of two decisions to make... let him stay or send him home...
They in fact decided that they had more than two according to Ms Rodman's comments quoted in the article... They chose to send him home... contacted the parents... contact the police... and contact Children's Aide.
Just sending him home would have been a good idea.. but taking the further steps that indicate a decision was made that was informed and accurate - was really not right...when you look at the loss of life and before that a destruction of David's career.
Now granted that it was reported in an already suspect Newspaper we have no idea that the series of reports came immediately or later.
If he would not have died and the accusations were proven to be wrong... a good lawyer could have and should have led a huge law suit against the Camp for the assassination of character.. which they truly have done.
In the church world that I work in it is more and more common that a potential law suit exists each time a minister is forced out - for what ever reason. Church Leadership is more and more careful how they handle it - they could be sued big time.
I am saying that Pioneer Camp needs to be better informed and better prepared how they handle any of these kinds of problems.
We live in a brand new era - kids know how to manipulate and Camps/Churches worry themselves to death about Law problems. It is a brand new climate for sure.
Murray Lincoln
Contacting Children's Aid in the case of proven abuse or reasonable suspicion is standard camp policy and has been since at least 1998, when I went through the Leader in Training program.
By reasonable suspicion, I mean that a child having a single bruise on their arm upon arrival at camp, but seeming stable in all other ways, would not be a suspicion of abuse; a child covered in bruises and exhibiting some other symptoms of abuse certainly would be.
To not have contacted Children's Aid in this situation would be to go against camp policy, which is known to all staff as it is covered in the LIT program and reinforced at the staff training week that occurs every year in the week before campers arrive. Maybe this comes as a surprise, but as a camp insider, hearing how Pioneer staff handled the incident didn't strike me as being a surprise.
Camp would've contacted the police and Children's Aid with the facts as they knew them. I'm certain Calvin Bennett or Mark Evans (the Boys' Camp director; no article makes it clear who exactly handled the situation, other than saying 'Bennett and his team') would've taken the time to probe a bit before going to the authorities - to talk to the children and attempt to discern if they were lying. Based on camp policy, however, I'd be astounded if more than a couple days elapsed between the initial accusations and the authorities being notified. If nothing else, would it be wise of camp to notify the children's parents without having notified the authorities? At best, the parents would go to the authorities immediately themselves; at worst, they'd name the camp in a criminal negligence lawsuit.
I'm equally certain that having no way to prove or disprove the allegations (as I suggested earlier, Internet logs could be the only proof), the authorities would've been told that there was suspected abuse, rather than that David was guilty.
Let us remember that at least a month elapsed between David being sent home and the police making an arrest - if Pioneer had, as you say, been making an 'informed and accurate decision' (with what proof?), would the police have taken that long to arrest him?
Pioneer probably said something to the effect of 'This man has been accused by these children of inappropriate activity' - which is true and accurate. Call me simple, but I don't see how that's defamation of character.
Furthermore, Pioneer didn't do anything to notify the general public - their intention, I believe, was to deal with the situation quietly, but to make sure it got dealt with.
You suggest that he should've been sent home and that nothing else should have been done. That strikes me as nearly identical to the coverups that some of the larger denominations have done in decades past when clergy have been involved in sexual abuse. True, some clergy were shifted around to other congregations rather than being defrocked, and true, in some cases, there was clear guilt instead of David's supposed guilt, but it's the attitude of preventing real victims from having justice and possible victims from being vindicated (or not) that is so similar.
As far as I know it, having support for both David himself and the camp, I believe camp made the only wise choice in the situation. If David was innocent, they stated the facts and allowed the legal process to determine innocence - something that would've been likely in the absence of physical proof (again, Internet logs are key). If he was guilty, they showed reasonable respect for both him and the victims.
I personally believe he was innocent, but only God knows his heart.
Mike
I am pretty sure that we agree on most of what has been stated so far.
There is a contrast to the Camp vs Church scenario. In the church we do not immediately fire the minister on the spot and send them home that day. We need to look at the evidence and make sure it is true - or that there is some reasonable - factual things that have happened. Then absolutely we call the authorities in all areas.
It appeared from the reports that have come that all the steps that Leadership took were in a rapid fire sequence as David left for home.
Would it not have been better for someone from the camp to take the kids home in those days and have a look at the actual emails.
In the church work that I have been involved with we really try to investigate... and we know that it is very difficult to deal with.
Can you(or some one else) tell me if the boys were "happy campers" all week after David left? Has anyone in the Christian ministry(ies) related to Pioneer Camp following up with the truth.
Surely for the good of future Counselors and the Team's emotional state follow up should be down.
What does puzzel me is the fact that Children's Aid was called. That usually indicates a family crisis that was taking place - unless the teens were in/under the personal care of David.
Too many questions on this one and not near enough information to satisfy anyone!
Murray
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