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Camn Warnina "anorero

Three top JCC camp personnel fired; Kuppe pleads "not guilty" to 6 felony counts.

Ronelle Grier

Contributing Writer

F

ollowing the arrest of former
Jewish Community Center day
camp counselor Matthew Kuppe,
who was charged with taking and post-
ing nude pictures of young campers on a
foreign website, the JCC has terminated
supervisory staff members who report-
edly received and failed to act on a 2014
complaint about Kuppe from a counselor
who worked at the camp last summer.
Kuppe, who is 21 and
Jewish, was arrested on
Aug. 12 as the result
of an investigation by
the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security,
which found nude pho-
tos of three young boys
posted
on a website
Matthew
under
the
username
Kuppe
"JCCLOCKERROOM."
Investigators traced the
IP address to Kuppe's computer in his
parents' West Bloomfield home, where
the rising Michigan State University
senior was living during the summer
while working at the JCC as an assistant
unit head for the Trekkers program for
middle school children.
Kuppe appeared in court Aug. 27,
where his attorney Michael Rex of Hertz
Schram PC of Bloomfield Township
entered a plea of "not guilty" on his
behalf in response to six felony counts:
three counts of "production of child por-
nography," one for each of the children
whose photographs were posted on the
site; and three additional counts of dis-
tribution, receipt and possession of child
pornography.

JCC Staff Terminated
Regarding the reported complaint about
Kuppe and subsequent staff termina-
tions, JCC spokesman Michael Layne
issued the following statement, which is
excerpted below:
The ICC has been cooperating daily
with federal, state and local authorities
as well as conducting its own internal
investigation. Although all of these
investigations are not complete, we felt it
appropriate to advise you that this past
Friday, Aug. 21, we uncovered disturbing
information.
In the summer of 2014, ICC camp

16 September 3 • 2015

supervisory personnel received a com-
munication from a camp counselor which
raised inappropriate conduct by the
counselor who ultimately was charged
with criminal wrongdoing. The informa-
tion reported was not passed on to senior
ICC management. Supervisory personnel
who did not act on this communication
have been terminated. We have shared
this information with licensing officials
in Lansing and with the West Bloomfield
police department.
We are heartsick that this matter has
occurred. Consistent with our long his-
tory of delivering positive experiences in
our camp and early development pro-
grams, the safety of children in our care
will continue to be our highest prior-
ity. We pledge to continue all efforts to
be transparent and proactive in com-
municating with our camper families
and the community.
The JCC declined to release the
names of the three staff members
who were terminated.

Still Incarcerated
Kuppe remains incarcerated despite
motions by his attorneys request-
ing that he be released while await-
ing trial to the custody of his parents,
Richard and Linda Kuppe. At a deten-
tion hearing on Aug. 18, Magistrate
Judge Elizabeth A. Stafford ruled that
Kuppe would remain in custody pend-
ing trial, citing factors that indicated his
release could threaten the safety of the
surrounding community.
According to court records, Assistant
U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward said inves-
tigators believe the photos of three JCC
campers posted on a Russian-based web-
site were taken by Kuppe during a camp
overnight in early August. According to
Woodward, who referred to the situation
as "every parent's worst nightmare," the
photos were posted in an online folder
titled "Jewish boys," on a website known
to be "frequented by individuals with a
sexual interest in children?'
A motion asking the court to recon-
sider Stafford's decision was filed Aug.
25 by attorney Walter Piszczatowski,
also of Hertz Schram PC; however, it
was not addressed by Federal Magistrate
Judge Mona K. Majzoub, who presided
over Kuppe's Aug. 27 arraignment. The
motion included affidavits from Kuppe's
parents, who run a construction busi-

"We pledge to continue all efforts to be
transparent and proactive in communicating
with our camper families and the community."

— JCC statement

ness from their home, pledging to moni-
tor their son on a 24-hour basis.

Kids' Parents Feel Stress

The disclosure about the complaint
regarding Kuppe's behavior during the
2014 camp season, when he worked with
campers who have special needs, has trig-
gered distress among the parents of those
children. At an Aug. 24 forum for parents
of JCC campers, facilitated by Jewish
Family Service (WS), several mothers of
children with special needs showed up to
express their fears that Kuppe may have
had inappropriate contact with their kids
this summer or last year. Many of these
children are nonverbal or unable to under-
stand the meaning of such behavior.
"We're all feeling a lot of stress and
concern because we can't ask our kids,"
said one of these parents, who attended
Kuppe's arraignment on Aug. 27 and
asked to remain anonymous.
She worries because her 7-year-old
son spent considerable time with Kuppe
this summer, who taught him to speak
"Minionese," the language used in the
recent animated film Minions. Her
understanding was that Kuppe had vol-

unteered and was given permission to
help out with the younger children even
though his official assignment this sum-
mer was with middle school-age camp-
ers in the Trekkers program.
"We're living in a gray area, which is
not a good place to be," the mother said.
"My son was with him [Kuppe], so we
wait."
West Bloomfield Police Chief Michael
Patton said a thorough investigation
by his department and federal agents
is continuing to determine the extent
of Kuppe's behavior and whether other
children, in addition to the three identi-
fied in the photographs posted online,
were affected.
Anyone with information or questions
may call the West Bloomfield Police
Department at (248) 975-9200, or the
24/7 hotline established by the U.S.
Attorney's Office: Call 1-888-702-0553,
or email usamie.victimservices@usdoj.
gov.
The Jewish Family Service Resource
Center is available for counseling or
other support services for parents, chil-
dren or teens. Call (248) 592-2666 for an
appointment or more information.

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