Sex scandal could force Presbyterian church to sell land used for children's camp

The vote is set for Saturday, ABC7 Chicago reports.

A conservation group is trying to derail that plan and wants to buy the property and keep it as a nature camp.

The lakefront vista about two hours from Chicago has been a Christian youth camp and family spiritual retreat for more than a century, but it was put in jeopardy when Reverend Douglas Mason was exposed as an alleged child molester, ABC7 reports.

For a decade, while director of a South Side ministry, Mason allegedly had sex with four minor boys, much of it on video.

The church now has loans that settled abuse lawsuits after the scandal, and they may sell the camp land to help pay those bills.

A Michigan land developer is reportedly offering $10 million, slightly more than the total that has been pledged by the newly-formed nonprofit conservation group.

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