Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 3, 1995                   TAG: 9506050038
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CHURCH CAMP COUNSELOR'S SEXUAL-OFFENSE TRIAL SET

Jamie Byers, a 24-year-old waiter and bartender from Alexandria, is charged with two felony counts of aggravated sexual battery. He is accused of fondling the youths, both of whom were under age 12.

Byers was arrested last July in Bedford County. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on each count and up to $200,000 in fines.

He was a counselor at the Royal Ambassadors camp at Peaks of Otter. The camp is for boys from across the state and is sponsored by the Virginia Baptist General Board.

Founded in 1907, Royal Ambassadors is a missionary organization for boys ages 6 to 11.

Bill Berry, the camp's director, said Byers was a paid camp staffer and a student at Averett College at the time of his arrest.

Royal Ambassadors chapters are sponsored by local churches and are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The Ambassadors counted 174,500 boys as members across the nation last year.

Ambassadors are divided into two age groups: Lads, for boys in grades one to three; and Crusaders, for boys in grades four to six.