HELP US HELP OTHERS!
Grossly negligent acts caused Roxie Forbes to die.
Summerkids Camp is about to open for its 5th season since it caused Roxie’s barbaric death. Join numerous others who have shared information about the preventable harm at Summerkids and other summer camps so that they cannot harm more children. Click here.
CLICK THE BUTTON TO JUMP TO CONTENT
ROXIE MIRABELLE FORBES
December 4, 2012-June 28, 2019
Definition of kill: cause the death of a person, animal or other living thing — Oxford Dictionaries
We do not use this term lightly. However, when camp operations like Summerkids Camp in Altadena, California, knowingly commit acts that put children like Roxie Forbes at grave risk, it is imperative that we define the outcome in the most appropriate way. Accidents at camps do happen. Roxie’s death was, in no way, an accident. Based on an abundance of evidence, including admissions, Summerkids caused the death of Roxie by way of a horrific drowning.
Roxie’s six-and-a-half-year-old life ended due to grossly negligent acts, according to publicly available court documents.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Summerkids refused to shut down for one minute after ending Roxie’s life. In fact, Camp Director Cara DiMassa demanded that parents not pick up their traumatized children early because she wanted to “keep the day as normal as possible.”
Almost everything that Cara DiMassa and her family said in their initial email and follow-up emails to parents were false. There were no certified lifeguards. Children wandered from their designated spots in the pool because counselors weren’t paying attention. Not a single counselor at the pool noticed Roxie floating dead atop the water for at least five minutes, i fnot upwards of 10. CPR efforts were entirely egregious. A defibrillator was incorrectly used. And, the camp operators falsely stated that Roxie’s parents wanted privacy.
Roxie had recently received special recognition for her achievements at her public school. She spoke Spanish. She marched for immigration rights. She personally donated her own toys and books to child victims of northern California fires. She proudly supported gun control to end school shootings (March for Our Lives). She loved firefighters, riding horses, frolicking in the ocean, playing with robots and race cars, dancing and traveling.
Most of all, Roxie cared deeply about the well-being of other children. Her community cherished her for such tireless compassion and unyielding grace.
ROXIE DIED FROM NEGLECT
Although the DiMassa family continues to cover up how Roxie died, documents and testimony prove that Roxie suffered a brutal drowning death in the shallow end of this small pool due to gross negligence, fraud and a host of other causes.
According to evidence, Summerkids owners Cara and Joe DiMassa and their independent lifeguard trainer Andrew Cervantes fraudulently certified counselors as lifeguards for nearly a decade.
Cervantes participated in the scheme to make fast money. He admitted to fraudulently certifying himself as a lifeguard instructor. It is estimated that Cervantes and the DiMassas fraudulently certified more than 100 Summerkids counselors over nine years. Roxie’s father Doug Forbes alerted the nation’s most popular lifeguard training organization to request that it immediately ban Cervantes and the DiMassas for life. The organization complied.
The DiMassas actively advertised that they had certified lifeguards, which means that they lied to thousands of parents of young children for decades. The Summerkids pool was the most popular activity at camp.
Nonetheless, Summerkids and their attorney Margaret “Peggy” Holm assert that Roxie somehow drowned due to her own fault. Their entirely false claims continue to this day. The civil lawsuit is now more than five years old.
The DiMassa family also withheld how other children have been injured at Summerkids camp over the years, including a severe injury only weeks after Roxie’s barbaric death.
The DiMassa family only carried a $1 million insurance policy to cover as many as 900 children that attended their facility each summer. This is the shockingly marginal value they place on children’s lives.
Cara DiMassa apparently lied about medical supervision at their facility. She said her brother Giancarlo DiMassa was supposed to rearrange his schedule as an emergency physician in order to serve as health supervisor for the camp. According to documents and testimony, he was rarely at the camp and was on vacation when Cara DiMassa’s gross negligence ended Roxie’s life. It is not clear whether Giancarlo was aware of Cara’s false claims.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Truth
This document explains how Summerkids is complicit in the death of Roxie Forbes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Roxie’s parents Doug Forbes and Elena Matyas (now deceased) filed a lawsuit against Summerkids and the DiMassa family in 2019.
Elena Matyas et al v. Summerkids, Inc. et al
It is important to note that Cara and Joe DiMassa do not mention the joy of children or a passion for child care anywhere in their legal documents. They repeatedly discuss money and reputation and how Roxie was somehow at fault for her own death. The DiMassas never state that they are deeply devoted to legal, healthy, safe care for children. Cara DiMassa has admitted that child safety is not “the” priority, despite her operating a recreational child care facility with high-risk activities for children as young as three.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CampAbuse research shows that defense attorneys play pivotal roles in camp-related abuse cases and their future impact on the way the camp industry may or may not be held accountable for preventable harm. CampAbuse will explore other cases and the ways by which defense attorneys handle them. In this case, Margaret “Peggy” Holm is the defense attorney who represents Summerkids.
Holm has defended other recreational entities in abuse matters. All of these cases and others are publicly available.
Holm defended USA Gymnastics in a lawsuit in which USAG team physician Larry Nassar sexually assaulted, molested and raped hundreds of girls and women. A judge sentenced Nassar to 175 years in prison. Multiple documents proved how USAG covered up the abuse. This article further explains how Holm’s role in that USAG case infuriated the gymnasts.
Holm defended USA Taekwondo in a case where coach Marc Gitelman sexually assaulted teen girls. The judge sentenced Gitelman to four years in prison and decided that USAT had a legal duty to guard against sex abuse.
Holm defended United States Youth Soccer Association in a case where the coach Emanuele Fabrizio repeatedly sexually abused a child. The judge sentenced Fabrizio to 15 years in prison and decided that USYSA was complicit.
Holm said in a newspaper interview, that a lawsuit against her client Summerkids was “unfortunate,” and she was “looking forward to a full airing of the facts.” Summerkids recently repeated this assertion in this national report from Inside Edition in which it asserted how it would vigorously defend “dedicated staff.” To date, a federal judge has ruled that all claims against the DiMassas including gross negligence and fraud are worthy of being heard at trial.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On one hand, CampAbuse agrees with Holm’s public statement. A full airing of the facts, and not withholding evidence or deflecting away from facts, is the proper way toward justice.
On the other hand, CampAbuse also disagrees with Holm’s public statement. A lawsuit is not “unfortunate.” When a child dies due to willful disregard, a lawsuit is necessary. Nothing is “unfortunate” when it comes to the wholly preventable death of a child.
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to the coroner’s publicly available report and conclusion, that Roxie died from drowning and nothing else?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to publicly available police reports and EMT reports, counselors admitted to neglecting Roxie?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to supporting documents and the publicly available Complaint, Summerkids owner-operators the DiMassa family and an independent lifeguard trainer fraudulently certified upwards of 100 counselors as lifeguards, including those at the pool when Roxie drowned?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to supporting documents and the publicly available Complaint, the DiMassa family facilitated fraudulent lifeguard training and certifications only days before camp commenced?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to public documents and the publicly available Complaint, the fraudulent lifeguard and water safety instructor Hank Rainey was also Roxie’s buddy counselor in the pool when she drowned?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to a public document, Rainey’s mother Allison said he was the “victim” who was “unfortunately” there in the pool with “that girl?”
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to admissions and the publicly available Complaint, Rainey and the other counselors ignored the fact that they never received the training or any testing required to assume a lifesaving role when they were all attending reputable colleges and fully capable of understanding the requirements of legitimate lifesaving training for a child care environment?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to public admissions and the publicly available Complaint, none of the fraudulently certified fake lifeguards at the small pool noticed Roxie had drowned until someone outside of the pool screamed?
Was it “unfortunate” that, only weeks after The DiMassas ended Roxie’s life, they rushed another child to the hospital with a serious injury?
Was it “unfortunate” that the DiMassas have rushed numerous other children to the hospital?
Was it “unfortunate” that a Summerkids junior counselor suffered a nearly life-threatening injury that involved a broken spine, broken pelvis and broken shoulder which required a year of rehabilitation?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to supporting documents and the publicly available Complaint, the DiMassas fraudulently certified counselors as Water Safety Instructors who were in charge of teaching 3-and-4-year-olds how to be water-safe, which made that instruction wholly illegitimate and gave children and parents a false sense of security?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to supporting documents, the DiMassas, Summerkids and Trevor Boreham from Life Saving Certified apparently abbreviated CPR, First Aid and AED training despite granting full certifications?
Was it “unfortunate” that Summerkids Director-Owner Cara DiMassa apparently hid in her office for upwards of 15-20 minutes or so while Roxie Forbes lay dead or dying on her pool deck?
Was it “unfortunate” that, while hiding in her office, DiMassa apparently preferred to call her mother and father instead of calling Roxie’s parents or helping children or her fake lifeguards at the pool or answering police and EMT questions?
Was it “unfortunate” that DiMassa chose not to ride with Roxie to the hospital but showed up at the hospital with her mother and father soon after Roxie arrived? And was it “unfortunate” that DiMassa barged into the emergency room without permission?
Was it “unfortunate” that, according to supporting documents and the publicly available Complaint, Summerkids’ counselor training was only a few hours or so, despite operating a high-risk child care operation?
Was it “unfortunate” that Cara DiMassa avidly promoted on her public website and to Roxie’s parents that her doctor-brother Giancarlo rearranges his schedule to be at camp as a medical supervisor when, in fact, he was rarely at camp and was thousands of miles away on vacation when Roxie drowned only 10 days into camp season?
Thousands of caregivers have trusted Summerkids to live up to their promises. Would these caregivers have left their children in a pool if they knew the pool was crowded, chaotic and supervised by fake lifeguards under the command of apparently grossly negligent owner-operators?
According to an abundance of now publicly available evidence, that’s apparently what thousands of parents have done for years at Summerkids. The only difference is that parents didn’t yet know the part about a crowded, chaotic pool with fake lifeguards… not to mention, the incorrect occupancy sign which violated a county ordinance and state requirement… more publicly available information.
Ultimately, Cara DiMassa, “Cowboy Joe” DiMassa, “Mama Maria” DiMassa, Giancarlo DiMassa, Jaimi Harrison, Daniel “Hank” Rainey, Joseph Natalizio, Faith Porter, Natalie Del Castillo, Andrew Cervantes and Trevor Boreham are complicit in the death of 6-year-old Roxie, according to the detailed public Complaint and available evidence presented herein, let alone that which will eventually become public.
Perhaps even worse is the DiMassa family’s subsequent actions.
According to parents, the DiMassa family said that Roxie drowned due to a medical condition or disability. DiMassa attorney Margaret Holm made the same claim in her Motion to dismiss the lawsuit but did so without an ounce of proof.
According to all medical documents and experts to date, including the coroner, drowning was the cause of death, nothing more.
The DiMassa family, their former assistant director Jaimi Harrison and their fake lifeguards are correct. Roxie did die from a medical condition. That condition is known as full cardiac arrest and brain death due to a preventable drowning, according to a coroner.
Fluid replaced oxygen. Blood turned to acid. Tissue collapsed. Organs failed one by one. Vomitus ravaged airways. The heart stopped. And the brain imploded.
Nobody guarded her life. Everyone ignored her. And Roxie Forbes suffered a terrifying, brutal and wholly preventable death.
As difficult as this might be to believe or even read, documents, testimony and facts are plentiful... some are availed to prove that the DiMassas, their attorneys and others will not be able to evade the truth. Again, many documents cannot be availed due to an ongoing lawsuit. They do exist and, eventually, will be released.
The legal understanding for “malice” means conduct which is intended by a defendant to cause injury to the plaintiff or despicable conduct which is carried on by defendant with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others.
Executing a fraudulent lifeguard and water safety instructor certification scheme to apparently save a few thousand dollars is clearly malicious enough. But doing so in a manner that kills a child is not only malicious and oppressive but also potentially criminal. Owner-operators from other recreational child care facilities have been charged with felonies for less.
Truth can indeed hurt, especially for those who have a considerable history with the DiMassa family and with Summerkids. The question is, what price are parents willing to pay for such an allegiance?
In fact, for years parents have paid thousands upon thousands of dollars without knowing the facts.
Doubts about these claims are to be expected. Children continue to be killed, injured or sexually abused at camps coast-to-coast. It is extremely challenging to fathom the disturbing circumstances of each case.
This is why CampAbuse will continue to provide information about this case, cases of the past and others to come.
Camp abuse is a major crisis in America. Truth matters, especially when the futures of our most vulnerable citizens are on the line.
OWNERS
Cara DiMassa was a Los Angeles Times reporter and editor, according to her bio. Reporters are certainly aware of the importance of truth and fact.
Cara’s father “Cowboy” Joe DiMassa was a former religious studies teacher at a city college and at one time had apparently considered the priesthood, according to a source who has done work for him.
Joe’s wife, “Mama” Maria DiMassa was also a teacher at the same city college. The same source said she had considered following a religiously devout life until she met and married Joe.
Their son Giancarlo DiMassa is an emergency room doctor. Cara DiMassa said he would rearrange his busy schedule to be at Summerkids as a medical supervisor. Apparently, he was rarely at the camp.
Cara’s two young daughters attended the camp, one of whom was a counselor.
SUMMERKIDS
COUNSELORS
According to the DiMassa family, they hosted 900 children ages 3-15 each summer. Yet, Cara DiMassa, her former assistant director Jaimi Harrison and a groundskeeper were the only full time on-site staff when Roxie died. A couple dozen counselors primarily aged 15-21 managed the children. Harrison quit not long after Summerkids ended Roxie’s life. Her replacement had no camp or teaching experience.
The counselor picutred above in his underwear is Isaak Momsen, drinking while underage. He was one of the lead Summerkids counselors. The counselors at the pool when Roxie drowned included… Hank Rainey seen (in the circle photos lower right) urinating on a Black-owned restaurant, which he proudly publicly posted on Instagram. Faith Porter is seen taking a bathroom selfie and apparently had an issue which may have considerably impacted her ability to care for children and who may not have even been at the pool at all.
Joe Natalizio was a 28-year-old couch-surfing teacher in Mississippi seen top left giving the cunnilingus sign. Natalie Del Castillo believes she was a capable lifeguard despite her fraudulent certification. Former Summerkids counselors have disclosed a pattern of additional issues including public underage drug and alcohol use during camp season and abandoning children in order to hang out or hook up with fellow counselors.
These violations are supposed to be grounds for firing, according to the Summerkids handbook. However, the DiMassa family did not honor their own policies. In fact, Cara DiMassa followed these and other counselors on social media and was privy to these photos and exploits that broke her rules.