Roswell camp counselor arrested for child molestation

Roswell police announced Aug. 5 that they arrested a 20-year-old day camp counselor from Jonesboro for child molestation.

The suspect, Alfred D. "Trey" Phelps, is charged with child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes and sexual assault. He is being held in Fulton County jail without bond, where he was booked Aug. 5.

Police said the charges stem from an incident involving two young girls, ages 8 and 10, reported June 19 at the WoHeLo Summer Camp, which is held at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Crabapple Road.

According to a report of the incident, Phelps allegedly exposed himself to the two young girls in a playroom on a lower floor of the church. The girls had been blindfolded as part of a "taste game," where Phelps fed them unknown items.

The 10-year-old took off her blindfold and saw Phelps was allegedly naked. She grabbed the other victim and both ran out.

The older girl told her mother, who then called the camp director.

The camp director called police, as did the victim's mother. The 8-year-old's mother contacted police July 1.

In interviews directly after the crime, authorities said the girls and their families were initially reluctant to speak at length with detectives.

Suz Welch, director of Camp WeHeLo for Camp Fire USA Georgia Council, said first-year counselor Phelps was a typical college student looking for a summer position. Nothing came up in his mandatory background check that would have aroused the suspicions of camp personnel, she said, and no complaints about him were heard before June 19.

He was removed immediately, she said, and should have never been alone with the girls regardless.

"Our policy, for the protection of the children and the counselors, is that they never have alone time," she said.

Welch said no more children have come forward with complaints.

Chuck Jones, communications committee chairman for the Unitarian Universalist Church, said Camp WoHeLo is in no way affiliated with the organization. Camp Fire USA Georgia Council, which runs WoHeLo, rents the space from the church, he said.
- www.northfulton.com

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