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Dolton summer camp staff responds to fight videos as investigation continues
Rucker Athletics leaders say the viral fight videos look "really, really bad" but don't tell the full story, arguing staff intervened, the videos were weeks old and many of the children involved were from the same family.
DOLTON - One day after disturbing videos appearing to show children fighting inside a Dolton summer camp prompted outrage and led to the program's closure, the executive director of Rucker Athletics Fitness and Training Center is defending the organization's handling of the incidents while acknowledging the videos are difficult to watch.
"It looks bad, really, really bad," Lori Dill, executive director of operations for Rucker Athletics, told FOX Chicago. "I don't want the communities to think we are sitting here with our legs crossed letting these kids fight and act like this."
The videos, which circulated widely on social media, appear to show children fighting inside the camp while other children cheer them on.
One video includes someone saying, "If y'all be loud... I'm beating your a** next."
Camp says videos don't tell the whole story
Dill says the videos lack important context.
"In every video you have, every kid is from the same family, but they are fighting different girls," she said.
According to Dill, staff had been working closely with the family since the first week of camp, choosing intervention and mentorship instead of immediately removing the children from the free summer program.
"A lot of people are asking why didn't I put them out – it's easy to do that," Dill said.
She also says two of the videos circulating online were recorded during the second or third week of the seven-week camp—not during its final week—and that staff addressed those incidents when they occurred.
Saying the videos are old and from the second or third week in camp.
Parent says daughter was forced to fight
Parent Angelette Taylor disputes that explanation.
Taylor says she had no idea the videos existed until her 7-year-old daughter was sent home for fighting. She says that is when her daughter told her she had not started the fights but had been forced into them.
"Someone told me to fight her and I didn't want to fight her," 7-year-old Vontellia Taylor told FOX Chicago.
Taylor says her daughter later told her that teen campers serving as camp leaders were directing younger children.
"When we get in the car, she said, 'You don't understand. They got me fighting. They make me fight,'" Taylor said.
Taylor says she only shared videos involving her own children before posting them to social media. After the videos went viral, the Village of Dolton ordered the camp closed pending an investigation.
Camp rejects allegations about teen leaders
One of the most serious allegations made by Taylor is that teen camp leaders encouraged or forced younger children to fight.
"I do dismiss that claim," Dill said.
Dill says the facility is equipped with surveillance cameras throughout the building and argues that the cell phone videos capture only portions of what happened.
Staffing questions remain
FOX Chicago also learned new details about camp staffing.
According to Dill, approximately 55 children attended the camp each day under the supervision of 10 adult staff members, along with eight youth camp leaders, two of whom were paid.
Based on those numbers, the camp appears to have exceeded Illinois' minimum staff-to-child ratio for school-age programs. However, investigators are expected to focus on a different question: whether those adults were providing adequate supervision and were where they needed to be when the fights occurred.
Camp remains closed
The Village of Dolton says the camp will remain closed pending the outcome of a public hearing, which is scheduled for next Thursday at noon.
For Vontellia Taylor, the closure brings relief.
"Because I don't want to fight no more," she said.
Despite standing by her staff and maintaining they responded appropriately, Dill says there is one thing she wishes had been done differently.
"I would have hired older staff. We wanted to do like everyone else, to provide opportunity to youth," Dill said.
The Village of Dolton and the Dolton Police Department continue investigating the incidents.
The Source: The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago's Tia Ewing.