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Last year, Connecticut regulators permanently closed a summer camp in Durham amid conditions one investigator described as "a state of extreme filth."
This year, under the same leadership, the camp has taken steps to reopen a few states over, in Pennsylvania.
The camp, an Orthodox Jewish program for boys called Camp Degel Hatorah, was the subject of two investigations by Connecticut's Office of Early Childhood, which oversees private camps statewide. During visits to the camp weeks apart in the summer of 2022, investigators observed trash strewn across the premises, dirty floors, mold on the cafeteria ceiling, holes in multiple walls, unsupervised campers and more, according to records obtained by CT Insider, including photos and videos of the site. In addition, investigators found multiple issues with medical record keeping, including a failure to collect required medical documentation.
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These investigations culminated in April 2023 with the revocation of Camp Degel Hatorah's license to operate in Connecticut — making it the only camp to face formal discipline from the state in 2021 or 2022 and the only one to have its license confiscated in at least the past eight years.
According to state records obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request, the state’s first investigation into Camp Degel Hatorah began in mid-August 2022 when a complainant called the OEC to report that a child at Camp Degel Hatorah had suffered serious burns while using a camp kitchen. The caller further described mold, leaking pipes, trash on the camp premises and a lack of adult supervision.
Less than a week later, an investigator from another state agency, the Department of Children and Families, contacted the OEC with a separate complaint after observing propane tanks and gas cans in the camp parking lot and an overflowing dumpster by the kitchen, among other issues.
When OEC investigators questioned the camp's owner, Rabbi Joseph Deutsch, about the conditions on the site, Deutsch told them the grounds were messy due to a banquet the night before but would be cleaned up promptly.
"The campers do unfortunately leave a mess behind when they leave, and it is more efficient to clean everything when they are not underfoot," Deutsch said in a written statement, adding that there had been insufficient time to clean up cigarettes and beer following a private staff party.
Photos taken during investigators’ first visit to Camp Degel Hatorah showed dirty floors and walls, mold inside some buildings and food and waste spread throughout the kitchen, including a brown liquid on the floor. Photos and videos from the OEC’s second visit, on the final day of camp, showed garbage across the campus, including in the main parking lot, outside of buildings, in piles outside of the cafeteria building and scattered on the ground..
After conducting these visits, records show, the state cited Camp Degel Hatorah for a long list of violations: "trash throughout the grounds," moldy conditions and holes in some walls, children being observed without supervision in a game room, an area “invaded” by bees and flies, an "unsanitary" dining hall, an open pipe in the middle of the sidewalk, an inspector being denied access to some facilities and the camp’s failure to report an injury after the staff member, a minor, was burned.
In March 2023, OEC presented Deutsch with a formal statement of charges. When Deutsch declined to contest the allegations, his license was officially revoked on April 19.
Reached by phone last week, Deutsch acknowledged that a staff member had been burned in the camp kitchen but emphasized that the injured teen had fully recovered and had even expressed interest in returning to camp. As for the conditions of the campgrounds, Deutsch said the premises were typically clean but that investigators had shown up on the last day of the summer, when things were out of order.
"It's basically impossible at that point to clean up," he said.
Deutsch said he objected to aspects of the state's probe, including the timing of the visit and the involvement of a child abuse investigator, and that it felt like the state "was out to get" his camp.
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In an email, OEC spokesperson Maggie Adair said an investigator had visited the camp the day after receiving a complaint, which happened to be the final scheduled day of the program. The involvement of the Department of Children and Families is standard procedure in cases that include allegations of abuse and neglect, as this one did, she said.
Less than two months after Camp Degel Hatorah had its license revoked, a newspaper in Allentown, Pa.,The Morning Call, reported that Deutsch had purchased a campsite in Lower Macungie Township for $2.2 million, with plans of opening a camp there as soon as July. According to The Morning Call, Deutsch said the new camp, also called Camp Degel Hatorah, would allow participants a "relaxing, refreshing break," adding that he has considered starting a girls program to go with the boys camp.
When CT Insider asked about the new camp, however, Deutsch had less to say, responding, "I don't want to comment on that."
A representative for Pennsylvania's Department of Health, which is responsible for overseeing summer camps there, confirmed that Camp Degel Hatorah had registered to operate there this summer. The agency did not say whether regulators knew of the program's prior issues in Connecticut.
Adair said there is no interstate process to flag camps that have committed violations or prevent them from operating elsewhere.
According to documents obtained by CT Insider, the OEC recorded 74 complaints against Connecticut camps in 2021 and 2022. Camp Degel Hatorah was the only camp to face formal discipline, though another program, a weight-loss camp called Camp Shane, voluntarily forfeited its license in 2021 amid a state investigation.