Allegations Against Day-Camp Director Disputed

The lawyer for a day-camp director arrested on suspicion of sex crimes against children stepped up his counterattack Monday against the prosecutors who are weighing possible charges.

Philip Remington Dunn, attorney for William Allen Clemens, said he has evidence that one purported victim made the allegations because he was rejected as a camp counselor.

That youth, now 16, lodged his complaint at the instigation of another alleged victim who has a record of “making things up for attention,” Dunn said.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Murphy said the defense attorney’s claims have not derailed the case against Clemens. After a delay of nearly two weeks, prosecutors hope to decide by Friday whether to file charges, she said.

“Unless Phil Dunn has something else to show me, it’s my impression that this is his theory of the case, rather than what the facts are,” Murphy said.

The investigation began after school officials received a complaint from a parent and placed Clemens, who has been director of the Young Set Club day camp since 1996, on administrative leave Dec. 15.

He was arrested Feb. 23 on suspicion of child molestation, child annoying and indecent exposure. The alleged incidents, in which two boys and an adult male say they were victims, occurred as long as several years ago and as recently as December, according to investigators.

Clemens’ arraignment on those charges, however, was delayed from March 3 to March 18 after prosecutors said they needed to gather more evidence.

Dunn said the 16-year-old alleged victim was rejected for a camp counselor’s position three or four months ago after other counselors brought up past disciplinary problems. The boy had not directly been disciplined by Clemens, Dunn said.

It was decided that Clemens would tell the boy that he was too old to stay at the camp as a student, and was not qualified to be a counselor, Dunn said.

Another alleged victim, a 22-year-old man, contacted the boy after he heard of his rejection and persuaded him to lodge a complaint against Clemens, Dunn said.

Dunn said the information he has obtained was never gathered by investigators from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

But Murphy said prosecutors delayed filing charges “because we weren’t ready to” and not because detectives overlooked any potential witnesses or evidence.

“It’s just a matter of us looking into all leads, no matter who gives them to us,” Murphy said. “If the police department called up today and said it had information, we’d look into it.”

One legal expert said Dunn may be trying to plant a seed of doubt in the minds of potential jurors by bringing up the issue of witness credibility.

“It’s exactly what you’d expect a defense lawyer to do,” said Laurie Levenson, associate dean at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “This is not atypical in cases like this, for the defense lawyer to suggest that there is a motive for a victim to lie.”

Dunn also may try to revive memories of a child molestation case that rocked Los Angeles last decade, Levenson said.

“He’s sending a big reminder: ‘Remember McMartin,’ ” she said, referring to the McMartin Preschool trial, which led to the acquittals of defendants Raymond Buckey and his mother, school co-owner Peggy McMartin Buckey.

In that case, seven teachers, including Raymond Buckey, were indicted in 1984 on 115 charges of felony child molestation involving 42 preschool children. The allegations were later found to have been fabricated.

“It’s the kind of message that says, ‘You better check the facts before you file a case,’ and it could make the prosecution move more slowly and cautiously,” Levenson said.