Teenage nudist camp raises concerns of safety, propriety

Bug spray — check. Sunscreen — check. T-shirts and shorts — not necessary.

The packing list for Camp White Tail is slightly different than those at most camps because the 30 adolescents converging there this week are nudists.

“All of them are children who are already at peace with their nudity,” said Bob Roche, manager of the Ivor, Va., camp. “What we’re trying to teach them is social interaction with other people.”

The campers will play volleyball, swim, tie-dye shirts, take workshops and participate in other typical camp activities. But critics fear they could also be subjected to pedophilia.

Such gatherings are legal in the state as long as they take place on private property and include no lewd behavior, said a spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore. However, law enforcement officials will keep an eye on the camp, he said.

“We understand there are folks who pursue a lifestyle like this,” said Tim Murtaugh, the spokesman. “We also understand there are some very real concerns for children to be in that environment.”

The southeastern Virginia camp is in its first year and follows successful nudist camps for 11- to 18-year-olds in Arizona and Florida.

Another is in the works in Texas and could open in the next couple years.

Richard Grizzard, commonwealth’s attorney for Southampton County, where the camp is located, said he has no plans to pursue questions of legality.

“Nudist camps as such are not prohibited by law,” he said. “If parents drop off their children there, there isn’t [anything] I can do.”

Mr. Grizzard also said the sheriff’s “hands are pretty much tied.”

“Unless somebody’s breaking the law, there’s nothing he can do,” he said.

In Florida, U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, Republican, wrote last week to Gov. Jeb Bush, Republican, and the state’s attorney general asking them to determine the legality of the original nudist camp and to consider more rigid statutes against such activities.

Mr. Foley’s letter stated, “Obviously I have no way of knowing whether illegal behavior is taking place in this camp, but the situation clearly raises legitimate issues that should be addressed given that it involves minor children.”

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