Ex-teacher pleads not guilty in camp sex abuse case

The former Episcopal Academy fourth-grade teacher arrested in the sexual abuse of boys at a Cape Cod summer camp three decades ago appeared Wednesday in a Massachusetts court.

Richard Perkins Smith, 65, of Media, pleaded not guilty to charges with rape of a child, indecent assault and battery, and related crimes, the Cape Cod Times reported.

The charges stem from allegations that he molested four male campers, ages 11 to 15, in 1981 while he worked as an assistant camp director at Camp Good News in Sandwich.

He is being held at Barnstable County Correctional Facility on $10,000 bail. Smith's next court date is scheduled on May 28 for a pretrial conference.

According to court documents, Smith told investigators that about 35 years ago, he molested one of his Episcopal students and admitted the incident to the head of the school.

Smith told police that at some point after his admission, he was removed from teaching but kept on as an Episcopal fund-raiser, according to a search warrant application filed in the case.

Smith, a 1966 graduate of Episcopal, taught at the school from 1970 to 1990, then worked in the development office until 1998, according to a school spokesman.