City Shuts Down Bed-Stuy Day Camp Run By Ex-Con: Report

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A local day camp was shut down when city officials discovered it was run by an ex-con who previously embezzled $500,000 from a Brooklyn day care center, according to reports.

Camp Bed-Stuy and its operator, Andre Lewis, 33, were investigated by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene when parents complained their children were taken on inappropriate field trips and came home with unreported injuries and employees reported they hadn’t been paid, DNAinfo reported Wednesday.

The City shut down the camp Wednesday morning when it found more than 50 students were attending a camp without the permit required for any child-care service that hosts more than 10 kids, DNAinfo reported.

Parents and former employees took to social media to complain about Lewis, who was found guilty of embezzling $500,000 from the Better Brooklyn Community Center, a federally funded food-aid and after-school program, in 2009.

Lewis’ choice to take the children to a campaign rally for Mayor Bill de Blasio outraged several parents, including Daniel Duncan, the father of an eight-year-old son.

“My 8yo son came home with questions about, "What is abortion, Daddy?" Duncan wrote on Facebook.

Duncan also witnessed other children walking around “stealing” bites from the other campers because their parents didn’t know they wouldn’t be fed.

Another parent, Dana McDougal, added that she worried about her child's safety.

“On two separate occasions, my son came home with injuries,” wrote McDougal. “I was not notified by the counselor at the time of pickup as to what caused his injuries.”

And Gary Upton Schwartz wrote that he was scared to leave his children in Lewis' care.

"Drop off was terrifying as there was no process in place, no visible accountability, and an erratic sign-in/sign-out procedure," he wrote in July. "Very disconcerting when leaving a young child."

Former councilor Ramon King, who goes by “Coach K,” reported that the camp was hosting up to 30 kids with just two adults to supervise them in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

“Andre Lewis has blocked us all and is lying to the parents about what's really going on,” wrote King, next to a video that shows a line children walking down the street. “ Andre nowhere to be found, 30 plus kids and only two counselors to tend to them.”

King was one of many counselors who quit when Lewis failed to issue their paychecks, he wrote.

“Andre is a scam artist who spends most of the day hiding,” wrote King. “Andre doesn't care about the children's safety at all."

Header photo courtesy of Mayor Bill de Blasio's office