Jewish Contributions to Humanity #40 in a series Kuppe Case JCC and parents reach settlement. RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER A WEST BLOOMFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT of Kuppe’s duties in 2014 included settlement was reached working with campers with special between the Jewish needs, many of whom are unable to Community Center (JCC) communicate. and the three families whose sons’ After Kuppe’s arrest, photos were taken and the JCC, in cooperation posted on a Russian with the Jewish Federation website by a former JCC of Metropolitan Detroit, day camp counselor. initiated additional safe- Matthew Kuppe, guards that included now 24, was arrested community-wide staff in August 2015 after education and a specific U. S. Department of training series conducted Homeland Security and by experts in the field. the West Bloomfield Because the settlement Police Department was out-of-court, no investigators discovered details are available. All he had taken nude pho- Matthew Kuppe parties, including the fam- tographs of three 5- to 7-year-old JCC campers and posted ilies, the attorneys and JCC offi- cials, declined comment about the them on a foreign website known case or the terms of the settlement. to be frequented by pedophiles. The families were represented by One of the boys had been identi- Farmington Hills-based attorney fied by name on the site. William Seikaly. Kuppe was originally charged The following statement was with six felony counts that included issued by Farmington Hills-based production, distribution, receipt Marx Layne, the JCC’s public rela- and possession of child pornogra- tions firm: phy. Five of these charges, includ- “The families whose lives ing the more serious charge of were impacted by the events that production of child pornography, occurred at the Jewish Community were dropped as part of a plea agreement. In 2016, Kuppe pleaded Center Summer Camp in 2015 have had the opportunity to meet guilty to the charge of distribution with the leadership of the JCC. lt of child pornography and was sen- tenced to 10 years in federal prison. was a meeting in the best tradi- tions of our community wherein The case was heard by U.S. Eastern it was agreed that the safety of the District Judge Avern Cohn. Kuppe children in our community is and is now serving his sentence in a should always be our top priority. Lisbon, Ohio, facility. “While the parties recognize An Oakland County prosecutor’s that incidents such as the one that investigation failed to turn up evi- dence that Kuppe had molested any occurred at the JCC can happen and do happen in communities of the campers. Photos of the three around the country, it was agreed boys were taken in the JCC locker that additional safeguards should room. be implemented to insure that, to Following Kuppe’s arrest, three JCC staff members — the day camp the greatest extent possible, it never happens again. director, assistant director and “In light of this, the JCC and the director of the special needs the families have chosen to work department — were fired after it with one another not only to make was learned they failed to pass on our community a safer one, but to information from a fellow counsel- make the JCC operations a model or about inappropriate conduct by for other communities.” ■ Kuppe the previous summer. Part Three Jews Who Led a Revolution in Information. Sergey Brin Larry Page Larry Ellison SERGEY BRIN (1973-). I4VZJV^9\ZZPH Co-founder of Google. 6ULVMHOHUKM\SVMJVTW\[LYZJPLU[PZ[Z^OVTHKL[OLPYMVY[\UL^P[O[OLYPZLVM[OL0U[LYUL[ :LYNL` )YPU OLSWLK JYLH[L [OL ^VYSK»Z SHYNLZ[ ZLHYJO LUNPUL PU .VVNSL HSVUN ^P[O :[HUMVYK JSHZZTH[L3HYY`7HNLILSV^/L^HZIVYUPUJVTT\UPZ[9\ZZPHI\[OPZWHYLU[ZKLJPKLK[V LTPNYH[L[V[OL<:^OLUP[^HZJSLHY[OH[:LYNL`»ZMH[OLY4PROHLS^V\SKUL]LYILHISL[V HK]HUJLOPNOLYPUTH[OVYLUNPULLYPUNILJH\ZLVMSPTP[ZWSHJLKVU1L^Z0U(TLYPJH:LYNL` NYL^\WPU4HY`SHUKZ[\KPLKTH[OH[[OLOH[NYL^V\[VM)HJR9\I.VVNSL^HZWLYOHWZ[OLNYLH[LZ[YL]VS\[PVUPU PUMVYTH[PVU[LJOUVSVN`ZPUJL1VOHUULZ.\[LUILYNPU]LU[LK[OLWYPU[PUNWYLZZPU LARRY ELLISON (1944-). I5L^@VYR5L^@VYR Co-founder of Oracle. )VYU PU 5L^ @VYR HUK YHPZLK PU *OPJHNV 3HYY` ,SSPZVU»Z WH[O [V Z\JJLZZ PZ H X\PU[LZZLU[PHSS` (TLYPJHU VUL ,SSPZVU UL]LY TL[ OPZ IPVSVNPJHS MH[OLY HUK ^OLU OL JVU[YHJ[LK WUL\TVUPH H[ UPUL TVU[OZ OPZ TV[OLY NH]L OPT [V OLY H\U[ HUK \UJSL PU *OPJHNV,SSPZVUOHKHJOHSSLUNPUN`V\[OSP]PUNPU*OPJHNV»Z:V\[O:PKL^P[OOPZYLSH[P]LZ I\[ [OPUNZ ILNHU [V [\YU ^OLU OL TV]LK VU [V JVSSLNL (S[OV\NO OL VUS` SHZ[LK [^V `LHYZ H[ [OL HS[LY3-PLSK :WVUZVYLKI`0Y^PU:-PLSK >YP[[LUI`1HYLK:PJOLS jn October 11 • 2018 17