Texas Family Files Lawsuit Over Boy's Sexual Assault at Camp La Junta, Says Rusty Hardin & Associates

HOUSTON, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The family of a boy who was sexually assaulted three years ago at the Camp La Junta boys summer camp in Hunt, Texas, has filed a civil lawsuit against the facility and its owner.

Noted Houston attorney Rusty Hardin represents the boy and his family in claims of negligence and defamation against Camp La Junta and owner Blake Smith. The lawsuit was filed May 29, 2012, in Harris County District Court in Houston.

The victim was only 11 years old when he was assaulted in 2009 by Camp La Junta counselor Matthew Bovee, who has since been convicted of felony sexual injury to a child. According to the lawsuit, Mr. Bovee required the boy to lay in bed with him, take up to six showers a day, and subjected him to body cavity searches after the showers. Kerr County records indicated that Mr. Bovee, 23, is serving a 9-year prison term for his crimes.

In a chilling note to his mother, the boy wrote: "It is not fun anymore . . . I want to go home." The letter included the child's explanation of his "punishment" at the hands of Mr. Bovee. After the concerned parents contacted the camp, Mr. Smith told them that they should not talk to the boy and that he was only homesick, according to the claims.

"This is a sad and horrible thing that a camp advertising 'a camping environment which is moral, safe, entertaining and educational' would turn its back on an abused child and deny responsibility for what the criminal courts have already determined happened at Camp La Junta," says Mr. Hardin, a nationally acclaimed trial lawyer known for his prowess in both civil and criminal cases at Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP.

The defendants told local residents that the boy was "emotionally troubled" and accused him of lying about the abuse, according to the legal claim. The camp and Mr. Smith are accused of negligence for failing to implement policies and procedures to protect the boy, failing to supervise, and failing to properly investigate the allegations.

The lawsuit, which seeks actual and punitive damages, contains John and Jane Doe aliases to protect the child's identity. The case is Johnny Doe, et al. v. Camp La Junta 1928, LP and Blake Smith, No. 2012-31192.

Rusty Hardin & Associates has built a solid reputation for establishing rapport with juries and obtaining favorable results in both civil and criminal matters. Visit the firm's website at http://www.rustyhardin.com.

For more information on the lawsuit against Camp La Junta, please contact Mary Flood at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].

SOURCE Rusty Hardin & Associates