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Suicide investigated at summer camp linked to Scott Brown abuse claim

An ambulance leaves Camp Good News in Sandwich, Mass. Wednesday morning David Curran

(CBS/WBZ) SANDWICH, Mass. - A man committed suicide Wednesday at the Cape Cod summer camp linked to the sex abuse claim made in Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown's recently released autobiography, according to police. 

The suicide appears to be connected to a second, more recent sex abuse allegation involving the camp. It occurred as yet more abuse allegations regarding Camp Good News surfaced.

Workers at the camp told CBS station WBZ that Chuck Devita shot and killed himself at the camp in Sandwich, Mass. Wednesday morning.

Devita, 43, had worked at the camp for several years, reports WBZ. The Camp Good News website describes him as the head of the camp's Physical Plant. The camp's secretary, Cathy Chiccotelli, confirmed the identity and described Devita as a good person.

Brown revealed in "Against All Odds" that he was sexually abused at a camp on Cape Cod, but did not name the camp. When asked in Washington about the suicide, Brown replied, "I don't have any of the facts."

A 35-year-old man who wants to remain unidentified stepped forward two weeks ago claiming he was sexually assaulted in 1985 at the camp.

Mitchell Garabedian, the alleged victim's attorney, said three additional people called him on Wednesday to say they were abused at that camp. Two of them named Devita as the abuser, while the third person named somebody else.

A source confirms that Sandwich Police were alerted to Devita by former camp employees as recently as September 2002 for possession of child pornography. The Sandwich Police and Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office declined to comment.

Investigators released a joint statement Wednesday afternoon confirming the discovery of a man's body.

The camp also issued a brief statement:

"Camp Good News has been notified about a body being found. We are awaiting identification from the medical examiner before commenting."

Scott Brown spoke about the alleged childhood sexual and and physical sexual abuse he endured on CBS News' 60 Minutes on Feb. 20, 2011.


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