Others quickly became accustomed to it, providing fertile ground for a predator like Newman who used nudity and discussions about sexuality to groom his victims. Tennessee resident Michael Armentrout, who worked at Kanakuk as a counselor in 1997 and 1998, also found the nudity disconcerting. "The resulting civil lawsuits received little attention, and nondisclosure agreements silenced victims and kept evidence under seal. Ever since Pete Newmanpleaded guiltyto sexually abusing six boys,Kanakuk has touted itself as a leader in child safety, holding seminars across the nation. Newman pleaded guilty last year in Taney County court to three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy and two counts of enticement of a child. "He, like, challenged me," Dygert said. Hed squirt this Gold Bond at the campers like it was baby powder. Monday evening, Kanakuk marketing officials said they declined to comment on the new lawsuit against Newman, referring the News-Leader to a recently-published statement on sex abuse on the camp's website. 25 Feb/23. It only stopped, Hoffpauir said, when he and Madison began seriously dating. "Its big money. The attention he got from Newman felt like "you've got this really special thing," Dygert told the News-Leader. Jody Jones was an 8-year-old camper at Kanakuk in 1985. Pete Newman arrived in Kanakuk in 1995 and was there for 14 years before being caught. Everybody looked up to him.. The abuse itself began in a relatively "minimal" way, Dygert said. ", Kanakuk alsosaid it developed a "comprehensive Child Protection Plan" because of the "tragedy.". Victims say such confidentiality clauses have kept stories of abuse at Kanakuk from reaching a national audience although that is changing. Webfrom dust we come to dust we return quran. 25 Feb/23. She's blaming anyone else she can find. The first time former Kanakuk camp director Pete Newman was reported for being nude with kids was in 1999 the same year he became a full-time employee at Caroline refused. Newman used similar language in a September 2018 letter he sent from the Jefferson City Correctional Center, where he is serving multiple life sentences for sexually abusing boys he met through Kanakuk. In fact, Grimes did not leave voluntarily. You're going to hear some stuff, and I just need prayers. Most of their employees are members, leaders, sometimes pastors at local churches. That's the No. Kanakuk said in its most recent IRS filing thatrevenues topped $31.6 million in 2019. The stated objective: To help Pete understand what healthy ministry is, and to make sure Pete never places himself in a compromising position that his integrity would be in question. Pete Newman is the most thorough relationship builder with kids in Kanakuk history, Joe White once said in advertising for a father-son retreat. He also hung out with Newman "just in town." I didn't talk to anyone. The first time former Kanakuk camp director Pete Newman was reported for being nude with kids was in 1999 the same year he became a full-time employee at the Branson-based Christian athletic camp and a decade before he confessed to abusing multiple underage boys he met through Kanakuk and related ministries. When my counselor heard about this, he warned me to stay away from Pete., Other counselors followed Newmans lead, Clark said, making the parties a staple for a time.. On June 9, 2010, Newman, then 34,pleaded guilty in Taney County court to eight charges of sexually abusing six childrenin connection with his role as a counselor and director at nearbyKanakuk. 2023 www.news-leader.com. I was trying to avoid him, Fusch said. Administrators response to the violation fell far short of the Kanakuk playbooks threat of instant dismissal, however. Christian summer camp in Branson, Missouri, camp leaders have repeatedly disregardedred flags, Survivors, ex-employees say unreported abuse at Kanakuk camps in Branson spans decades, Kanakuk's statement provided in response to the News-Leader's questions, Kanakuk camper says she was told to apologize, denied call home after reporting abuse, Former Kanakuk counselor Peter Newman named in new sex-abuse lawsuit, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. WebIts been over 20 years since the abuse began for me by Pete Newman of Kanakuk Kamps. Reporter Gregory Holman was born and raised in Branson, mostly living in Taney County until 2003. He was an instructor at Fuller and Denver seminaries and the U.S. Air Force Academy. The prosecutor who oversaw the case later estimated the actual number of victims could be in the hundreds. Nothing happened to you?' He noted that on one occasion Newman quoted Scripture to justify the activity. It wasn't until years later that I learned that good man was a pedophile and the people needing the prayers were the countless victims I spent my summers with, not Pete.. 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. At Grimes' trial, aKanakuk directordisclosed that Grimes had been fired from Kanakuk after an incident involving a young male camper. '", He added, "Now, looking back, I know no grown man should be hanging out with a little kid like that.". Branson-based Kanakuk Kamps and its associated ministries area multimillion-dollar global enterprise that includes the largest evangelical sports summer camp in the world. Newman was the camps rock star. A person who went to Auburn University with Newman said, memorably, If Jesus and Pete walked into a room, Im not sure who the kids would have worshiped. Pete Newman is the most thorough relationship builder with kids in Kanakuk history, Kanakuk chief executive officer Joe White once said. More:Former Kanakuk counselor Peter Newman named in new sex-abuse lawsuit. More than 20,000 There was no Im so sorry this happened to you. . She accused the boy of lying in the eyes of the Lord.. Logan Yandell, now 27, filed a lawsuit last week against Kanakuk Kamps alleging he was sexually abused from around 2005 to 2008 by former camp director Peter Newman. As they discussed the matter, Whites 12-year-old daughter walked by. I saw it. Kanakuk leaders have described convicted child molester Pete Newman as a lone predator but he wasn't the first or last abuser connected to the camp. Since 1926, Kanakuk has hosted more than 500,000 campers and 50,000 staffers in Missouri and its many international locations. Hoffpauir said his mother, who only learned about his abuse experience in early February, "is doing awful. In the 1990s, male counselors reportedly held Gold Bond Parties, during which they gathered nude campers into communal showers and applied medicated talc to campers genitals. In an interview with Ashton Alarcon on Vice News, he recounted how was abused by Newman at the camp when he was just 12 years old. He worked there from 1995 until he was fired in2009. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism. We want to insure [sic]that Pete be involved in a lifetime of ministry.. Reach News-Leader reporter Gregory Holman by emailing gholman@gannett.com. Camp owner White responded that he and Kanakuk will not object to you sharing your story with those who can support your healing. But, he added, becausemost agreements involve insurance companies who may choose to defend their interests, you should keep the terms of your settlement confidential.. She also said she told her counselor and a camp director. Hoffpauir, now 34, recalledthat during the phone call, Newmantold him, "Things are getting crazy. He wrote his phone number on my hand and said, 'Hey, let's hang out sometime.' But the counselors showered together, too.. When heentered the room, kids chanted his name, Fusch said. White wrote, "It's definitely a mess and a last-resort measure not the way it was intended to function, but better than a major explosion.". ", "He came in the lunchroom," Dygert said. Since the 1970s, under the leadership of White and his wife Debbie-Jo, Kanakuk has become one of the largest Christian camps in the world. Newmans supervisor recommended he be fired in 2003, after receiving reports that Newman swam and played basketball with children while he The prosecutor who oversaw the case of Peter Newman said the number of victims could be in the hundreds. Lee Bradbury pleaded guilty in 2013 to four sex related charges involving The more casual attitudes toward nudity at Kanakuk where communal showering and physical inspections of unclothed campers continued into the 1990s and early 2000s, former staff members said made some campers uncomfortable. "Honestly, I kind of remember being bitter about it," Hoffpauir said, recalling how Newman "withdrew" from his life as his relationship with his future wife began to blossom. In 2018, Newman was found liable for $10 million in damages, but was later released from a garnishment.) One of its two main campuses sits on 42 acres near Lake Shore Drive, across Lake Taneycomo from the lights of downtown Branson. Since the 1970s, under the leadership of White and his wife Debbie-Jo, Kanakuk has become one of the largest Christian camps in the world. ", "And it was Pete," Hoffpauir said. Like other young Christianswho crossed Newman's path, Hoffpauir described Newman, then roughly 26 years old,as an ideal person for evangelical youth ministry: "Very charismatic," Hoffpauir told the News-Leader in a recent interview. Dygert and Hoffpauir said they discussed their abusewith a licensed professional counselor, Branson-based Joey Staples, though not at first. There are people who are suffering in silence, feeling completely alone, to the point of taking their own lives because they don't know how to cope, how to deal with it. Keith Dygert, another 34-year-old who grew up in Branson and currently lives there, filed a civil lawsuit that was later dismissed when "all parties agreed to a settlement," according to Missouri court records. Former Kanakuk staff interviewed for this story, including a supervisor who recommended Newman be fired in 2003, say those complaints were repeatedly excused and dismissed. We are unable to do so, as these concern people who are no longer employed at Kanakuk and/or concern confidential matters that Kanakuk is not authorized to disclose without parental consent., More:Kanakuk's statement provided in response to the News-Leader's questions. It wasnt right.. Every time we talk, she cries about it. The group shower stalls at K-Kountry were rooms with four shower heads, and they made us partner up two campers per shower head, said Annie Riggs, a former camper from Denver who attended in the early 2000s. WebKanakuk actively concealed what they knew about the sexual abuse being perpetrated by Pete Newman and induced victims and survivors into settlements and NDAs, said Robert Thrasher, one of Yandells attorneys, in a news release. I still remember it., Missouri native Alison Morrow, who attended Kanakuk in 2007, says leaders dismissed her concerns about modesty., Its not that big of a deal, its just a shower, Morrow said she was told. ", Hoffpauir now says, "I hate it with a passion" that Newman performed the marriage. "We were at a birthday dinner, just our family, and it came out," Dygert said. While Caroline was discussing the groping incident with Chancey in 2016, she recalled that hebrought the boy into the meeting. And, you know, some of these kids go for a month. The documents concerning the I showered at midnight to avoid the crowds and got eaten up by mosquitos., More:Kanakuk issues new statement on camp child sex abuse; survivor calls it 'disgusting', Former camper Mallory Korte, who now lives in Nebraska, said she was told she could not eat dinner in 2007 without having a communal shower in front of camp leadership to save time. I feel like I can tell you anything. Years and years ago, he said, referring to the 1950s when he began attending camp. For me it was a trust thing. Nobody really reacted, Jones said. Camp officials reportedly rub elbows with powerful people, and have done so for a long time: In "Pure Excitement," a "righteous" guide to sex, love and dating for teenagers first published in 1996 by camp owner Joe White, White tells ofhis friendship with "an heir to the Coors brewery throne," Shane Coors. shaka wear graphic tees is candy digital publicly traded ellen lawson wife of ted lawson pete newman kanakuk wife. Everyone else said, 'it was so long ago. Evan Hoffpauir and Keith Dygert grew up in Branson, Missouri. "All I know is, he said, 'Don't worry about it. He died in a car crashwhile apolice investigation was ongoing. () I didn't even want to think about my past. Newman was in his mid-20s. "We graduated college, we spent about 10 years away from Branson, just being free and clear of everything this town has to offer. In hindsight, I can definitely see how Physical Inspection would have been a pedophiles playground, and I'm glad it was done away with some time in the late 80s or 90s, Cunninghan wrote. He saw Newman as a "very popular guy," well-liked, a "powerful, motivated, enthusiastic speaker," a "superstar.". And since he's a guy, I mean, that's what he would say, like, 'We're just guys, we're not gay. White, Kanakuks CEO, frequently had conversations with campers about sex, condoms, date rape, and masturbation. Both say they were sexually abused for years by former Kanakuk camp counselor Peter Newman. All rights reserved. "Your voice gave me a voice," Hoffpauir said he told journalist Nancy French after reports on Kanakuk by Frenchand her husband, David French, were first published last year by The Dispatch, a conservative-leaning news website. The Dygertssettled. By 2000, if not earlier, Kanakuks Employee Playbook included specific prohibitions against nudity, according to documents referenced in cases filed by Newman victims. Nudity is just what they do.. Though campers were assured counselors were their summer family, some said the forced intimacy was unsettling. Newman did not have an attorney on file for the case Monday. White also testified as a character witness on Morgans behalf, saying,rehabilitation on this side of prison walls is much more healthy for him than rehabilitation behind prison walls.. WebDygert, 34, is a Branson resident the News-Leader interviewed Friday night, shortly after Kanakuk posted its new comments on child sex abuse online. Kanakuk also began to do away with mass showering facilities, opting to build individual shower stalls in the cabins in the 90s and early 2000s, according to Cunningham., Counselors were instructed to allow kampers to shower first, he wrote. "We're getting ready to go to bed and I look over and all of a sudden, he's got an erection under the blanket," Dygert said. Physical Inspection involved all ten campers (from a cabin or group) lining up naked in front of their two counselors, so that each counselor could give a once-over with a flashlight, to make sure the child had no ticks, bug bites, poison ivy, or signs of things like ringworm, etc., former director Cunningham wrote in an email. Manybut not all come from wealthy Texas evangelical families. But only he and Newman were present, he now recalls. Former Kanakuk camp counselor Peter Newman is already serving two life sentences, plus 30 years, at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. 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