"We have endured child sexual abuse, extortion, silencing, physical abuse, harassment, aggressive legal tactics, public denial of said abuses, and much more," the letter says in part, "all at the hands of Kanakuk Ministries and its affiliated entities, and all while under your familys leadership. Newman is currently serving For decades, Joe White and other camp leaders knew about and facilitated sexual abuse against scores of children.. The retroactivity of the legislation is particularly concerning because of how it impacts organizations that rely on the law, Essma said. Keith Dygert, who said he was abused by Newman, reached a settlement with a non-disclosure agreement "at a time when only a small portion of the story was actually known," he testified. Until then, Missouri is not safe for children., The law was telling me there was nothing to be done about it, and the clock had run out on me.. This course not only places very strict rules on any kind of potentially problematic situations, such as showering and other daily life activities, it also equips those who have completed the course to recognize the actions of someone who is grooming kids to find children that will fall prey to them. The Missouri committee will vote on the legislation soon, and survivors are urging others to send emails to committee members in support of the bill. Fanominal? He worked at the camp from 1996 to 2009 as a staff member and director. We have never had, nor will we ever have, any tolerance for anyone who seeks to harm a child in any physical, sexual or emotional way. He admitted the abuse then and now to the MS church. The lawsuits that have been settled were filed in Taney County and in U.S. District Court in Dallas. Despite such agreements, multiple accusers have begun coming forward to share their grievances with Kanakuk. The third witness, Keith Dygart, reported on his own settlement with Kanakuk, describing the immense toll his legal battle took on his family. 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 the same speech, he also describes a man who had been incestuously abused by his father and encourages listeners to forgive their abusers to be freed from resentment. Former Kanakuk counselor Lee Bradberry is sentenced to 10 years in prison for sodomy and other crimes he committed while on Kanakuk summer staff. If people were more informed of the signs and behaviors, these cases would be less and less frequent. The survivors, family members, and advocates who testified in favor of the bill argued that childhood sexual abuse survivors can take years to come forward -- and that evidence of institutional wrongdoing that would spur civil action can take years to come to light, too, necessitating a higher cap on the age limit. Kanakuk Kamps worked extensively with authorities to provide information used in the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Newman. What matters however, is what happens going forward. Although the charges involved the abuse of six youths, the prosecutor told reporters after Newmans sentencing that Newman had admitted involvement with 13 others as well. That is why being informed is the only way to prevent or stop such atrocities from happening. Newman also sexually abused the boy multiple times at Newmans home and in other locations, the lawsuit says. He also said the camp leaders took steps to protect Newman. YesKanakuk is a sports camp, but seeking God and finding him is what the camp is all about. Another survivor stepped forward to share his abuse at the hands of Paul Green, who abused the child in his own home while being hosted by the boys family. The abuse began in the fall of 2000, it alleges, and continued over the next several years, during which time Newman encouraged the boy to perform a series of activities in the nude, including swinging naked from a trapeze into the pool, and engage in acts of mutual masturbation. As a child growing up in Branson, Hoffpauir was involved with Kanakuk's youth ministries, and said he was abused by Kanakuk director Pete Newman from 1999 http://stopbaptistpredators.blogspot.com/2011/04/complicity-in-baptistland.html. Newman, now 38, received two life sentences plus 30 years. We tell our staff we will work night and day to send any sort of offender to jail, for as long as possible. A representative answering Kanakuk'smain phone switchboardreferred all questions to an email account for camp communications. But he didn't survive past the age of 29, so now I refer to him as a victim, and I'm trying to be his voice.". I am now a 45-year-old woman with what I consider to be great strength, and it takes a lot of courage to get up here today and say this. The law was telling me there was nothing to be done about it, and the clock had run out on me. This time it involves claims of fraud in a sex abuse scandal. Joe White testifies that he had thought Newmans nudity with children, such as naked basketball, was improper, immature and inappropriate. He states that he never considered that Pete may be dangerous around kids.. Evan Hoffpauir, a victim of Pete Newman, said the trauma and embarrassment caused him to hide what had happened to him. My father has also been a director of other Christian camps and I can say that this was a horrific scandal that grieved everyone in the Christian camping community. Joe White continued to promote Pete and bury complaints of those outside the camp who had witnessed suspicious behavior, Dygert said. Lord, come soon. News Investigation Exposes Kanakuk Kamps Decades-Long Child Abuse Coverup WASHINGTON, DC (May 26, 2022) The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) renews its calls for Kanakuk Kamps leadership to acknowledge their failure to protect countless children that were in their care from sexual abuse.Survivors, family Kanakuk leaders contact some victim families and tell them they learned about Newmans abuse because of a tip from a hotline. 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? He said he grew up in Branson near Kanakuk and wanted to go there but his family couldnt afford it. It shouldnt have been done. Organizations such as Boy Scouts of America do not allow it. This is the most important thing. In 2021, Hoffpauir learned Kanakuk knew about his abusers actions against children yet failed to protect him and other children, he said. This lawsuit may be the tipping point that puts Kanakuk out of business, but I think Joe White must be held accountable for placing powerless young children in the path of a known pedophile. Isnt this the attorney that nailed All Saints over the Rudy Koss thing? The Bible does not tell us that the Lord allows these things to happen for a reason. Rebecca Randles, the Kansas City lawyer representing John Doe DK and his parents, said the alleged victim, now 26, is from southwest Missouri. Please be aware that this website may contain information and images that some may find disturbing. Rich AuBuchon, a registered lobbyist for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, and Missouri Civil Justice Reform Coalition, also spoke against the bill but wanted to claim at the start of his testimony his issue was not about the subject matter which brought forth the measure. The groups are seeking reforms in laws regarding the statute of limitations for sexual abuse. she is a wonderful person, but you have to wonder how many employees are hired just by giving one phone reference. ", Dygert relayed a message to the committee, too: "One victim's mother asked me, and I quote, 'Please let the committee know how many people this will help, that feel like they have no voice and no help from those that hurt them.'". She said not only was he welcomed back to Kanakuk in 2017, having posted a photo of himself and CEO Joe White at the camp on Facebook, but he has also worked in Kanakuks KLIFE, three different schools, and has been a girls volleyball coach. Missouri currently stops the clock at 31-years-old, and youre pushing child rape victims, forcing them to sprint a race when theyre struggling just ot survive and heal., This is not fair, and it makes justice impossible.. However, even though he accomplished all of those things, he could never get out from under the weight of his trauma, and after spending years believing Kanakuks claims they did not know about Newmans abuse, discovered Kanakuk had known about Newmans actions. You have a serious problem. Phillips pointed out research into neurotrauma and said it shows the current age limitation under Missouri law of 31-years-old for the victim of the abuse is arbitrary and without scientific support. A short statute of limitations can be lethal as my family knows, and another form of rape.. The camp made few public statements about the outbreak, and its communications office did not respond to multiple news media interview requests. An Evangelical Empire According to the Kanakuk website, the Child Protection Plan includes professional criminal background checks for every employee, mandatory sexual abuse prevention training for every staff member, staff education conducted by nationally recognized sexual abuse prevention experts, and educating all campers and staff on how to report inappropriate behavior. This is a topic too big for a blog site to grasp effectively. Richard AuBuchon, representing American Property Casualty Insurance Association, a national trade association for insurers, and Missouri Civil Justice Reform Coalition, which represents business interests in Missouri's litigation environment, said the bill is "unconstitutional," pointing to the revival of claims portion, and said 55 years old is "simply too long.". Man charged in killing at Kansas City homeless encampment where body was found in shack, Kansas City police locate 6-year-old missing from Broadway Gillham on Wednesday, $25,000 reward offered for location of missing Johnson County mother, believed dead, Suspected high-level drug trafficker arrested at KC house where 1 died, 3 cops shot, So talented: Kansas City jazz singer, dancer, legend Ronald McFadden dies at 66, A Kansas City musical force and light, jazz and R&B singer Ida McBeth dies at 70, Man found dead inside house where Kansas City police officers were shot late Tuesday. What you can do is insist that organized entities like schools, churches, etc. For more than a decade, Evan Hoffpauir believed the camp director who sexually abused him at the Branson-area Kanakuk Kamps had acted alone. 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 So they told my mother about the abuse, and she said they encouraged her not to call the authorities because it would be traumatic and hard for a young girl to go through.. For years, I remember walking down to my parents room at night and putting my hand on the doorknob and wanting to go in to tell them, and going back upstairs and crying myself to sleep, because I didnt have the courage at the time to say something, she said. In reading the lawsuit, the camp had to know. The abuse included all types of sexual activity except kissing, the lawsuit alleges, and occurred in camp cabins, the pool, showers, the gym, on promotional trips to other states and at the boys home. I didnt have the words or the support. As victims process their abuses and learn new information about their abusers, they may need time to choose to seek legal action, he said. Re: Just a new staff member Required fields are marked *. Not 31, not 50. Chief executive Joe White was given a hard copy, said Scott Hastings, Dallas-based attorney for No More Victims LLC, which providedthe letter to the News-Leader in advance. Maybe Mr. White was trying to contain the situation or do damage control by keeping Pete Newman on staff (knowing that if he was terminated, the truth would likely become known), but his decision to retain Newman in the face of his criminal behavior against the campers was a terrible lapse in judgement. have a no private alone-time policy between adults and minors and, for that matter, teenage junior counselors and the children they are supervising, with exceptions only during emergencies and when those happen, a full report by the adult of who he was with, what he was doing, and why they had to be alone together. i also was, last year, the sole reference for a young woman who got hired as a camp counsellor in another camp. We agree with that. He testified about statutes of limitations being a benefit because memories can fade over time, and of his concerns about reviving claims which had been ended because of the current statute. 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