Pingback:Leading Off (3/15/11) | FrontBurner. These offenses include sexual assault of a child, aggravated assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse of a young child or disabled individual, sex trafficking of a child, compelling a child into prostitution and indecency with a child. Survivors and family members of victims of sexual abuse at Kanakuk camps testified at a hearing before the Missouri House Judiciary Committee regarding a bill proposed by local state Rep. Brian Seitz to change laws to help survivors of childhood sexual assault. On Monday night, when he and other survivors of childhood sexual abuse testified at a public hearing of the Missouri House Judiciary Committee, Hoffpauir said he's come to believe "there was someone else responsible:" Camp leadership, including Kanakuk CEO Joe White, who remains in charge. you would think there would be more of a screening process for those entrusted to young children. No one deserves to carry the amount of shame that I experienced as a sexual abuse victim, Hoffpauir said. This website is dedicated to sharing what is known and what needs to be brought to light. Former Kanakuk staff member Corbie Dale Grimes is fired for sexual misconduct with campers, but since he was not reported to law enforcement, Grimes went on to work in youth ministry until a 2002 conviction. When i was a counselor we had very strict rules about being clothed at all times or after getting out of the shower making sure we were covered even while putting on our clothes. Parents deserve facts before choosing to enroll their children to the care of any Kanakuk-related program. Let your courts hear these cases. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Kanakuk has camps in and near Branson and provides summer sessions for more than 10,000 youths ages 7 to 18 each year. Parents and campers regularly report to Joe White and other camp leaders about incidents of Newmans nudity with campers. Can they take pictures of each other? Camp officials said they had terminated Lee Bradberry, 22, of Auburn, Ala., in July 2011 after learning from campers of an incident in which he had behaved inappropriately. The abusive, criminal behavior Pete Newman admitted runs counter to everything Kanakuk Kamps has stood for over the past 85 years, the statement said. John Hobbs, who testified in support of the bill, and said he was abused by a former Boy Scout leader, asked: "Is it really worth today's world trying to suppress someone's life such as mine simply to save your extremely wealthy company and/or clients money? Several former Kanakuk Kamps staff members have been convicted of child sexual abuse with more under suspicion but the true scope of their collective crimes remains unknown. White and other leaders at the Kamp continued to not only let Newman pray with young boys.but prey on them as well. Let me start by saying that I am not here to protect some sex offender, AuBuchon said. But by the time new evidence was uncovered through national media investigations, Hoffpauir was too old to file a civil suit against the camp and its leadership. White testifies to a judge prior to sentencing that he would have no problem allowing the man to babysit his own children and encourages the judge not to imprison Morgan. Trey was a Kanakuk Kamps abuse survivor and for years fought valiantly against the trauma he suffered. Kamp didnt help to hold him accountable in my eyes, Jones said. This is a centralized source for gaining knowledge and for sharing experiences and resources. House bill 367 cannot stop these events, but will allow for these children who are now adults, to call the people, and I use that term loosely, to be held to account and creates a path for civil actions to benefit the survivors and provide some form of restitution and accountability.. Many of its "kampers" come from affluent evangelical families living in Texas.). I have covered this case from the beginning and was in the courtroom when Pete Newman was sentenced. Pedophilia at Kanakuk: Power, lies and evangelical values that cover up abuse. I didnt know to fight for myself at that time, Jones said. The Missouri Independent, www.missouriindependent.com, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization covering state government and its impact on Missourians. A lawsuit, Doe IX v. Kanakuk Heritage Inc., is filed in Missouri state court, alleging multiple instances of sexual abuse by Pete Newman and subsequent cover-ups by Kanakuk leadership. Elizabeth Phillips traveled from Texas to testify on behalf of her brother, Trey Carlock, who reached a settlement with Kanakuk after being abused by Newman, and died by suicide at age 29. Please take 30 seconds to demand Kanakuk leadership do the right thing. Pete Newman receives two life sentences plus 30 years in Missouri state prison based on multiple counts of statutory sodomy and child enticement involving child abuse on Kanakuk property. Soon afterward, he begins a 14-year history of sexual crimes with male campers. Witnesses said the killing happened the morning before, according to court documents. Newman is currently serving so you have to wonder how many more girls this creep assaulted over the years. Two similar lawsuits, both filed in 2011, were settled this year. By prioritizing their own reputations and the camps reputation by covering up wrong-doing and by protecting predators (under the guide of ministering to them) instead of protecting children and supporting survivors, Kanakuk has and continues to cause untold harm. Vide the Catholic Church, Oral Roberts University and a host of right wing churches. Sad story all the way around but the victims deserve whatever justice they can get for such an awful betrayal. As a 7th grader, I didnt even understand I was being abused. For years, a former staffer at Kanakuk Kamps, one of the countrys most popular Christian summer camps, abused dozens of boys. In a signed statement, White admits he knew of Newmans naked hot tub sessions, mutual masturbation, and nude running through the camp with minors but again, made no mention of having contacted law enforcement or legal authorities about these incidents. Camp officials knew that Newman was having one-on-one sleepovers with boys yet retained him as an employee, the lawsuit says. He has access to thousands of children with little supervision. My brother was silenced with an NDA," one of the family members told CBS 11. This is a matter of life and death, she said. Kanakuk must be held to account. The bible says the God does not wish for any to perish, yet people do perish therefore everything does not happen according to Gods will. Newman and Kanakuk Kamps founder and president Joe White are also defendants in the suit. And remember, even if youre already signed-up and deposit was sent, its never too late to ask these questions and demand more if you feel a camp is not doing their utmost to protect your child. When a statute of limitations is extended prospectively, organizations can make rational and appropriate decisions to reduce their liability exposure. And explain to them what he was accused of, and then later tell them that he had confessed. The average age of disclosure is 52, Phillips said. A jury trial had been scheduled for January, but the lawsuit which was moved to Christian County was settled in September for an undisclosed amount. At a Liberty University Convocation, Kanakuk Kamps CEO Joe White emotionally details an interaction with a rape victim in which he says his conversation with her allowed her to regain her purity and virginity. WebSeveral former Kanakuk Kamps staff members have been convicted of child sexual abuse with more under suspicion but the true scope of their collective crimes remains As victims process their abuses and learn new information about their abusers, they may need time to choose to seek legal action, he said. Kanakuk and one of its counsellors, Pete Newman, have been involved in lawsuits related to abuse Newman committed at the camp. (Kanakuk was founded in 1926 and served more than 450,000 campers since then, according to its website. The News-Leader tried to reach White, Kanakuk CEO and board chair, for an interview Thursday by calling three phone numbers linked to him in public database records and by emailing sixaddresses linked to White and his wife, Debbie-Jo. Pete Newman is hired as a counselor and abuses children at Kanakuk Kamps as he moves up the ranks to father-son retreat leader, assistant director, and eventually director of K-Kountry. All rights reserved. But HB 367 is a glimmer of hope. We tell our staff we will work night and day to send any sort of offender to jail, for as long as possible. We try to watch our staff, and campers, and each other, like hawks. Phillips said the non-disclosure agreement Carlock had to sign in the settlement left him "scared to speak about his abuse even in therapeutic settings," and that a short statute of limitations can cause survivors to be rushed into civil litigation and burdensome settlements, as she said her brother experienced. In a written testimonial, White writes: A weekend with Pete will build a father-son relationship that will never be the same.. Joe White is a decent human being whose naivete must be gargantuan. Joe White continued to promote Pete and bury complaints of those outside the camp who had witnessed suspicious behavior, Dygert said. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges that Kanakuk and White knew as early as 1999 that Newman had been disrobing and involving children attending Kanakuk camps in nude activities and had only placed him on probation. In motions filed in the lawsuits, Kanakuk officials deny knowing that Newman posed a threat to children while working at the popular camp. Seven states open the window for two or more years, as this law proposes Missouri do, and two states currently open the window permanently for adult survivors of child sex abuse, according to Child USA. The lawsuits allege camp officials knew about the mans troubling behavior, including swimming and riding four-wheelers in the nude with campers, but failed to remove him or keep him away from children. The third witness, Keith Dygart, reported on his own settlement with Kanakuk, describing the immense toll his legal battle took on his family. Hoffpauir said finding out this information helped him to finally tell his family about the abuse in 2022. The string of lawsuits began after he went to prison. 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