Child Suffers Severe Electric Shock At Leaseholder’s Store

Rangers from Delaware Water Gap and from nearby Worthington State Forest responded last Friday afternoon to a report of a seven-year-old girl who was not breathing at the Delaware View House, a general store located on the New Jersey side of the park. She was flown to Morristown Memorial Hospital, where she was listed in satisfactory condition at the time of the report (Friday evening). Investigation revealed that the girl had suffered a severe electric shock from a makeshift contraption designed to ward off black bears. Park leaseholder George Kately of Sparta, New Jersey, who operates the historic Delaware View House, was arrested for maintaining a hazardous device on federal land and disorderly conduct. Kately cooperated fully with the investigation and was released by a federal judge later that evening.