Questions still surround case of counselor charged with molesting campers

JACKSON — Some say death saved Bill Bricker from going to prison.

But it also caused many questions that would normally be answered in a court of law to remain unresolved.

The 94-year-old died in January 2015 while awaiting trial on accusations that he molested campers when he worked at Teton Valley Ranch Camp, based in Kelly at the time.

His death ended the criminal case and left some victims without closure.

“Bill Bricker died while under arrest, awaiting extradition, prosecution and imprisonment,” a victim wrote in a letter sent to the News&Guide this summer. “Had he died six months before his arrest his legacy would have been as a hero. Instead, Bricker’s final legacy is simply a pedophile.”

It has been several years since Bricker’s name has made headlines.

But those who knew him are dispirited that he escaped prosecution.

There’s an online blog dedicated to the topic.

“Bill Bricker was a serial child molester for at least 50, and perhaps as many as 70 years, who was enabled by the administrators and attorneys for the school district where he worked, the owners of the Wyoming ranch where he taught campers in the summer, the Boy Scouts, the police department in the town where he lived, and the statute of limitations in Illinois,” Judy Linklater states. “In the end, the long arm of the internet took him down.”

Linklater said a relative and a childhood friend were molested by Bricker.

“All the guys I know were molested in the ’50s, and there was no noise about Bricker yet,” Linklater said.

Bricker, a Michigan resident in his final days, worked as a physical education teacher in Winnetka, Illinois, when he wasn’t counseling at the Teton Valley Ranch Camp.

Similar allegations were made against him in Illinois, too, but the statute of limitations at the time made it impossible to charge him.

The law was different in Wyoming, and in 2014 Bricker was charged with three counts of immoral acts with a child.

Those charges came after the Teton County Sheriff’s Office investigated accusations that he molested three campers in the 1960s and ’70s.

“[Victim] stated that at least six times during a five-week camp in the summer of 1985 Bricker touched his penis and ejaculated him, most of these events occurring in the cabin while other kids slept,” an affidavit states. “[Victim] also recalled a time he and Bricker were on a pack trip somewhere in the wilderness near the camp and he awoke to Bricker on top of him having an erect penis.”

Two male victims and one female victim had similar stories they shared with police.

“She said Bricker molested her in 1968 on an overnight camping trip to Lake of the Crags,” a police report stated.

The case file at the sheriff’s office is dusty now and will likely never be reopened because of the defendant’s death.

But some former camp associates say they are still being punished for Bricker’s alleged crimes.

Others argue if those associates had called police when they found out about the allegations that several other victims would have been spared.

“They were obligated to report it as far as I’m concerned,” Linklater told the News&Guide.

When the allegations ended up on an investigator’s desk at the Teton County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson residents Stuart Palmer, Matt Montagne and Judy Montagne were also investigated — for never reporting the abuse.

“[Victim] said she called the Teton Valley Ranch Camp 20 years ago and reported to them that she had been molested,” reports state. “[Victim] does not remember who she spoke with but remembered the Teton Valley Ranch Camp personnel saying they were aware and had heard of similar allegations.”

Matt and Judy Montagne would have been camp directors then, police said.

“This furthers the charges against the Montagnes for their failure to report the child abuse,” police wrote.

Investigators asked the Teton County Prosecutor’s Office to charge the Montagnes for not reporting the abuse to police, but it turns out that isn’t against the law.

“If you don’t report, under Wyoming law, it’s no big deal,” Teton County Deputy Prosecutor Keith Gingery told the News&Guide. “I thought that it was odd because not reporting elder abuse is a crime.”

In 2013 Gingery, who was serving in the Wyoming Legislature representing House District 23, drafted a bill that would punish certain people for knowing about child abuse but never reporting it. It would have included counselors, health care providers, educators, etc.

“The bill ended up making it to the House very easily,” Gingery said. “It got to the floor, and they got into the weird argument about what child abuse is and if we’re over-reporting child abuse. The bill has never been reintroduced.”

Police say they have proof that the Montagnes and Palmer knew about the alleged child abuse.

But when interviewed by police, the Montagnes seemed shocked and caught off guard.

“Judy said she was surprised that there would be any allegations against Bill Bricker,” police wrote. “Judy denied any knowledge of prior molestation or sexual assault accusations against Bricker.”

Police also questioned Palmer, who used to be a co-director with Matt Montagne.

Palmer distanced himself from the Montagnes after he told them what Bricker was being accused of.

He said they refused to do anything about it.

“I mentioned I would like to speak with Mr. Palmer about the TVRC and an allegation against Bill Bricker,” a detective wrote. “His comment was, ‘This should have happened 20 years ago.’”

Palmer confirmed to police that he was approached in 1997 by one of Bricker’s victims.

Palmer said he wrote down the victim’s information in an incident report and gave it to Matt and Judy Montagne, who did not respond in the way he hoped.

“After reviewing the report Matt Montagne gave it back to Palmer and said, ‘If you think I was one of those boys molested by Bill, you’re crazy,’” reports state.

That’s when the Montagnes asked Palmer to take a leave of absence from camp, he said, but he decided to leave permanently.

“The information provided by Palmer suggests that Judy and Matt Montagne were not completely forthcoming and truthful during our interview,” police said. “This information suggests the Montagnes are witnesses to more than one firsthand allegation against Bricker by one of their campers. This suggests they knew both [victim 1] and [victim 2] made allegations in 1997 and 1998 of being sexually molested as campers by Bricker while at TVRC.”

Palmer said the Montagnes wanted to protect Bricker instead of reporting the allegations to police.

So Palmer walked away after 30 years with the camp.

“I didn’t want to be there if they weren’t going to address it,” Palmer told the News&Guide. “Matt and Judy stayed on as directors for four more years, and they kept Bill on.”

The Teton Valley Ranch Camp eventually moved to Dubois, where it still operates today.

Palmer and the Montanges are still not welcome there.

“Being banned from camp disturbed me, naturally,” Palmer said. “Some people can walk away from these things. I have an overly acute sense of justice. I’ve tried to tell the board they don’t have it right and that they aren’t being fair. People have resigned over this.”

No criminal charges were ever sought against Palmer or the Montagnes. Palmer maintains he did the right thing by telling the Montagnes and it was their duty, or the victims’, to report it to police.

In March 2015 the Office of the Attorney General wrote Teton County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Weichman and confirmed that failing to report child abuse is not a crime.

“An examination of the Wyoming statutes reveals that no other statute provides a penalty for failing to report child abuse or designates that omission as a crime,” the letter, signed by Peter K. Michael and David Delicath, stated.

Current employees at the Teton Valley Ranch Camp, which is now run by the Teton Valley Ranch Camp Education Foundation, said they’re focused on safeguarding children but admitted Bricker’s legacy haunts the institution.

“We are determined not to bring the past into the present,” Executive Director Matty Cook said.

There won’t ever be a legal resolution to what children said Bricker did to them — but the allegations forced changes at the camp.

“There are two counselors with every camper in the cabins,” Cook said. “No staffers are ever alone with the campers.”

Cook said they do background checks on their counselors and visitors.

Cook wouldn’t say that Palmer and the Montagnes are “banned” from camp but confirmed they aren’t welcome.

“We have to respect those who were victims, future campers and their parents,” Cook said. “What we’re interested in is supporting our kids and families now. We are vigilantly sensitive to their needs.”

Matt Montagne confirmed in a phone call with the News&Guide that he is not allowed to visit the camp or attend any camp functions.

“It does bother me. It’s really sad,” Montagne said. “The camp is a wonderful place for kids to learn so many things and to grow in so many ways, and it’s sad to not be connected with that anymore.”

Montagne wouldn’t talk about his reasons behind not reporting the abuse.

“I have been coached not to speak on it,” he said.

According to a 2001 report by the Jackson Hole Guide, Bricker gave $500,000 to a camper scholarship fund and he continued to work for the camp until 2002.

But whispers about silence go back as far as 1968.

In a letter obtained by the News&Guide that’s dated in May of that year, camp founder Wendell “Weenie” Wilson wrote to Bricker promising to keep the allegations from the people of Teton County.

“We are not mentioning this to anyone, we will not until you do so — if you do so,” the letter states. “Don’t you ever entertain the idea of not coming back here because of something like that.”

Wilson wrote the letter as Bricker was being investigated during his time as a teacher in Illinois.

“In a way, Bill,” Wilson wrote, “I wish that you could tell them all to go jump and then come out here on a 12-month basis.”

Wilson offered his help and even said he would testify on Bricker’s behalf.

“The one thing this world needs is more Bill Brickers,” Wilson wrote. “We know that there is always the danger of being misjudged when we show some youngster a little affection, even though the one thing the boy or girl may need more than anything else is just that.”

Nothing came of the 1968 investigation, and Bricker continued to work directly with Teton Valley Ranch Camp campers, including serving as a cabin counselor during boys’ sessions.

Death infinitely denied justice for Bricker’s alleged victims. Some of them believe those who covered up the abuse should in turn be held accountable.

Others believe his arrest was justice enough.

“The thing with Bricker, there was closure,” Linklater said. “For my friend, his arrest was closure when he was 94 and on a breathing tube and in rehab after a heart attack. They fought to get him back to Wyoming, and the fact that it killed him, good.”