Carmel Crowchild says she is outraged by how her 11 year-old daughter was treated at a kids camp more than a week ago.
“I’m in shock. I’m in disbelief. I’m enraged because they put their hand on my child. My child never gets treated like this at home by our family,” said Crowchild.
On Aug. 31, Crowchild says her daughter Edith was allegedly assaulted by three staff members of Carmichael Outreach during an end-of-summer kid’s camp. The camp was hosted by Carmichael Outreach at the Lumsden Beach Campsite.
“My child was grabbed by her ankles by three of the adult staff and these (staff members) dragged her over a distance of more than 50 feet uphill. They had no right to put their hand on my child,” said Crowchild.
Crowchild says the incident stemmed from her daughter being part of a group of children playing pranks at Cabin Hope. She said the children dumped water, toothpaste and shampoo on the beds over the noon hour. Crowchild says the children were then brought to the fire pit and spoke to by a staff member.
“She got screamed at (by this staff member). Her and five other children, ‘you are weak, stupid little girls who are going end up homeless.’ He speaks to our children about drunkenness, addiction, prostitution. I didn’t sign up my child in this camp to learn about that,” said Crowchild.
Crowchild says her daughter stood up against the staff member and said, “I am not weak,” and walked away. Later in the evening, when Edith refused to go to bed, Crowchild alleges the staff members grabbed her, dragged her across the campsite and dropped her on the floor in the cabin.
Despite numerous requests to go home, Crowchild says her daughter didn’t get to call her until 11 hours later the same evening.
“I feel they should have called me the moment they recognized as one of the instigators in one of the pranking incidents,” added Crowchild.
Crowchild says her daughter also lives with a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
“Throughout this experience my daughter is yelling I have a heart condition. At this point one of the staff members yells, ‘where’s your medication?’ and berates her for having a heart condition and implies to her she’s lying about it. You hear of children who drop dead on sports fields. That is from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,” said Crowchild.
Crowchild says her daughter Edith sustained 28 cuts and bruises form the ordeal. Her family doctor assessed the injuries and documented them.
Carmichael Outreach says it’s taking the alleged assault seriously.
“These allegations are deeply troubling to Carmichael,” said Cora Gajari, executive director of Carmichael Outreach.
“We have been and will continue to work closely and transparently with the family and the RCMP to ascertain what occurred. We are working with the family to facilitate a healing based approach to addressing these allegations, and look forward to a good and respectful resolution for all involved. As this process is ongoing, and we hope to preserve the respect for all parties involved, we prefer not to comment any further at this time.”
Lumsden RCMP was unavailable for an interview but a spokesperson with the RCMP sent the following written statement:
“Lumsden RCMP received a complaint of an alleged assault that occurred in the Lumsden Detachment area on August 31. Lumsden RCMP are currently investigating this complaint – no charges have been laid. We will not be providing specific details as the incident is still in the investigative stages.”
Crowchild says she is exploring her options and will pursue legal action.
