ORLANDO, Fla. — WFTV’s 9 Investigates has discovered a stunning legal loophole that every parent will want to know about if they're sending children to camp this summer.
Unlike most day cares, summer camps are not licensed by the state, so, they're subject to far less oversight.
Investigative reporter George Spencer found convicted criminals with frightening access to children.
Read more on the story: Palm Beach Post "Kids in Peril"
With 12,000 kids in their care each year, the Central Florida YMCA summer camps take every precaution with the people who supervise the children.
“All staff goes through a very rigorous screening process,” said Wendy Craig of YMCA Central Florida. “We do background screening, fingerprints, drug screening.”
Under Florida law, all summer camps and church camps should do the same thing, but 9 Investigates uncovered a loophole that allows some to skirt the rules, and the state never even knows.
New Covenant Baptist Church, for one, hosted Camp Covenant under the care of Vice President Joseph Canada, a convicted armed robber.
“We need to go and take a look at these laws, because we need to do something about them,” said author and abuse survivor Diana Oakley.
Oakley was astonished to hear how some camps slip through the cracks.
Every Florida day care must be registered or licensed before it can even open its doors. So, regulators have a list of every one in operation and routinely check on the facilities' safety and their employees.
Summer camps need no such license.
Since there's no record of a camp's existence, the state can’t know if it's breaking the rules, skipping employee background checks.
WFTV’s statewide review found about 170 church groups or summer programs run by sex offenders, murderers, child abusers and other criminals.
“Personally, as a parent, I wouldn't send my child to a camp without doing my own research,” said Oakley.
Census data shows a disproportionate number of the programs are clustered in poor neighborhoods, like Camp Covenant in Holden Heights.
Attempts to talk with Canada were unsuccessful. His father said his son moved out of state but showed Camp Covenant campers how to turn their lives around by doing good.
Lax screening has proven fatal, though. Mark Kurzara, who was hired just out of prison by a Lakeland YMCA, killed a teenage camper in 2007.
Since parents can't look for a state license on the wall of these camps, parents need to ask for documentation that camp employees have been screened.
Summer camps are only reviewed if someone submits a formal complaint that screenings aren't being done.
There's still no strong legislative movement to add licensing.
WFTV reached out to the New Covenant Baptist Church, but they didn’t respond.
Background checks are always parents' best safeguard. But the Department of Children and Families is also working to educate parents on what to look for.
For more information, visit the DCF's website.