"And I had still been aware of what had gone on, but at that point, I still didn't know that I had been so successfully groomed in this entire process, thatI still didn't realize it was wrong. None at all., Robert Shaffer, a Kanakuk counselor from 1991 to 1995, contradicted that claim. Kanakuk camp 'abuse survivors' call for independent investigation into sexual assault accusations, that were reportedly flagged for Kanakuk leaders in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006, recently issued an open letter to Kanakuk and its owner, Kanakuk issues new statement on camp child sex abuse; survivor calls it 'disgusting', were first published last year by The Dispatch, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Since 1926, Kanakuk has hosted more than 500,000 campers and 50,000 staffers in Missouri and its many international locations. We went together, stayed in the cabin together. It also offers an all-ages family resort, along withday camps in eight states including Missouri, Illinois and Texas. Texas father Joe Alarcon said he sent his son Ashton to Kanakuk after he heard White promoting the camp at a 1997 Promise Keepers rally. I was in a room with the director, and about three other people. On that first night of abuse, Dygert said Newman told him, "'This would be one of the best bonding things we could do.' Jones said she was laying down to watch the movie when Chuck Price sat next to her and began tickling her foot. "That was like a solid eight hours we're in mediation, just like, zero empathy or respect for us from the Kanakuk side, just downplaying everything that happened, lowballing us on the settlement figure.". In fact, Grimes did not leave voluntarily. And, you know, some of these kids go for a month. And they vouched for Pete. Can you make a circus tent? Over the next several years, Newmans supervisors were alerted to multiple incidents in which Newman ran, swam, played sports and rode four-wheelers naked with children. Dygert said he met Newman in a Branson public school lunchroom. His parents sent him to what they thought was a group sleepover in a gym known as "Barn 13" on the Kanakuk campus. Any victim can reach out to Kanakuk by emailing us at victimsupport@kanakuk.com or access several independent victim advocacy organizations such as ChildHelp.org or Rainn.org, which can provide access to local support services, reporting assistance, and educational resources. As the News-Leader reported last month, the unsigned open letter argued that Kanakuk should agree to an external, independent investigation by a law firm. She's like, 'Right, Keith? Years and years ago, he said, referring to the 1950s when he began attending camp. 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. The Dygertssettled. Counselors said these parties were a kind of Christian fellowship and dubbed the experience gold bonding time, according to former St. Louis camper Tim Clark, who attended K-Kountry from 1998 to2001 and was at other Kanakuk sitesafter that., Pete Newman bragged about starting these parties, Clark said. Youre growing up and becoming a teenager, hanging around boys. I was pretty shy around boys when I was younger, so it felt uncomfortable for me., More:Kanakuk camper says she was told to apologize, denied call home after reporting abuse. The death was harder for me to deal with than the abuse,Fusch said, because I felt like I had driven him to it.. She said they reported it to their counselor, who arranged a meeting with camp director Keith Chancey. Filed April 8, the new lawsuit names only Newman. It's like a pop-off valve on the water heater." She's blaming anyone else she can find. 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. 2023 www.news-leader.com. A girl in my cabin and I came up with a plan to keep our swimsuits on and just get our hair wet., Dallas native Elizabeth Hunt Harris, who attended camp from 1994 until 2004, said she only went to K-Kountry once due to her discomfort after being watched in the shower. "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. WebWarning: strpos(): Empty needle in /var/home/ikvetlvq/meinardadraudze.lv/retro-bowl/index.php on line 1 The newspaper left a voicemail for Staples at First Baptist Church, of Branson, where Staples serves as family life pastor. The new suit seeks$5 million in damages from Newman personally and isthe secondlawsuit against Newman to be filed in Christian County courts in the past three months. 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. After 2005, when he was roughly 18, he no longer participated "in Kanakuk programs on Kanakuk property," according to a court filing. A 2005 edition of the playbook reviewed for this story, for example, specifically forbade nude swimming and nude games, stipulating that bodies should be clothed at all times., It banned [a]ny degree of sexual contact between staff and kamper [i]ncluding verbal harassment or anything with sexual connotations and said [a]ny infraction of the above policy involving even the slightest form of sexual connotation will result in immediate dismissal for the staff with no chances for rehire., The playbook also said We will never, ever, ever in any way display sexual body parts intentionally or touch anothers body parts. he recalled. Thirteen is an impressionable year for any child. Increased focus on the development of our staff, and 3.) "These are the most affluent kids in the country," he said. Kanakuk, Newman's former employer, is a Christian sports camp that's been in business since 1926. It was a turning point in my life. Caroline asked to go home but says she was told that could only happen if she were injured. DocumentsKanakuk released during civil court proceedings show camp leaders were made aware of Newmans nudity with children and other inappropriate behavior on multiple occasions from 1999 until his confession in 2009. In the old days, bathing in the river and bathing in the lake were commonplace, said White, who also serves a board chair of Kanakuk Ministries. In a 2012 deposition for a Texas lawsuit, Kanakuk CEO Joe White said nudity had long been a part of the Kanakuk experience while showering or bathing.. He was never a Kanakuk camper, but he said he took part in plenty of activities with Newman. There's no one to blamebut Pete and Kanakuk. They've admitted to their negligence in private; we want them to admit it in publicand be held accountable. With all those people cheering, I got up the courage.. Another prohibition, spelled out in Kanakuks 2008 employee handbook, specified Gold Bond powder could only be used for legitimate reasons presumably the purposes listed on its container: relieving itching and controlling odor. Most of their employees are members, leaders, sometimes pastors at local churches. The News-Leaderleft three detailed voicemails on the phone line linked to Staples' Branson-area counseling practice. He was imprisoned More than a decade later, Ringheim volunteered with KLIFE in Orlando. 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. Contacted by a reporter last Augustand asked if he was fired from Kanakuk for abusing a child, Price responded: I am busy doing the work of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, and that is all Im focusing on.. However, those actions were serious enough that former Kanakuk administrator Cooper testifiedat Grimes trial that Grimes was fired after encouraging a camper to pull his pants down, and Mr. Grimes (was)whacking his pee pee with a stick., Cooper characterized this as inappropriate behavior on Corbies part, which the camp deemed inappropriate enough that we let him go.. Hoffpauir grew up in Branson. 1 priority. She's just, she's trying to figure it out. He currently resides in Branson, Missouri, with his wife, Debbie Jo. 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.". And she realized, oh no, something had happened. 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. Shower time was weird, he said. It was the story of sexual predation at Kanakuk Kamps, one of the largest Christian camps in the United Statesthe summer camp of the Evangelical eliteand a superpredator named Pete Newman, a camp counselor who became a camp director who systematically abused boys by the dozens for more than a decade. In February 2010, Peter Newman pleaded guilty in Taney County to several counts of statutory sodomy and child enticement involving child abuse of a boy on Kanakuk property between approximately 2005 and 2008, court records said. ", "A lot of times he called me by my last name," Dygert said. And it no longer felt likecounseling.". More:Kanakuk issues new statement on camp child sex abuse; survivor calls it 'disgusting'. Like, 'This would take our relationship to the next level,' Dygert said Newman told him. I went to California with him. They throw all these bubbles on you. Webhow to get to quezon avenue mrt station Uncovering hot babes since 1919. There was no Im so sorry this happened to you. . I sure love being on your team!. In early February 13years after Hoffpauir told his wife about theabuse, and more than two decadesafter he says it began Hoffpauir finally, for the first time, told his parents about the pain that he suffered in secret. I feel like I can tell you anything. Through offshoots like Youth Life (now dubbed "K-Life"), Kanakuk reaches even more children and teenagers than those who attend camp. 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. Still, White noted something amiss. 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. Dygert helped out around the camp and eventually served as a Kanakuk counselor himself, for four years. Reach News-Leader reporter Gregory Holman by emailing gholman@gannett.com. Hoffpauir isn't the only person who identifies as a Kanakuk child sex abuse survivor to say that the camp, and well-paid camp leaders,should have known about Newman's abuse and taken effective steps to stop him. Former Kanakuk counselor Michael Horn said he was working at the camp in 2002 when he and another counselor witnessed a third counselor sleeping in a closed sleeping bag with a shirtless child straddling thatcounselors bare chest. 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. And so you cannot blame yourself.". "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. White said he spoke with Newmans wife after chapel and we were laughing about that statement but I could tell inside she wasnt laughing about that so much , I feel like you need to make sure Pete has some very sincere goals about the time hes spending with his wife and his daughter and perhaps they need to be reassessed.. Hoffpauir said that just after the call ended,hetold his wife for the first time that Newman sexually abused him for five years. WebThe USA Today piece, Survivors, ex-employees say Kanakuk Christian camp ministered to its sexual predators , reveals several new cases of abuse of children at the hands of Kanakuk staff and even other campers spanning decades, apparent dismissals and cover-ups of cases, and gross mishandling of reports that from the evidence available I was at camp the day Pete was convicted, said a former Texas camper who was 15 at the time. The summer of 2016 wasnt the first timeCaroline attended Christian summer camp in Branson, Missouri but it is the one etched most deeply in her memory. A day later, Fusch told his parents, who alerted police and met with a Dallas detective who specialized in investigating sex crimes. I mean, it happened.. And at that point, I was like, OK, this is weird. You're going to hear some stuff, and I just need prayers. 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. We believe in salvation, we dontbelieve in punishment, Jesus forgives, and we are going to forgive the camper, Caroline said Chancey told her. 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.. '", He added, "Now, looking back, I know no grown man should be hanging out with a little kid like that.". Kanakuk guidelines also said counselors should avoid any talk about anything related to sexual relationships, including boyfriend/girlfriend stories. But former campers say they could not escape these conversations because the camps emphasis on sexual purity insinuated sex into everyday camp life. 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 At maximum, it could destroy your ministry.. A reporter attempted calls to four phone numbers linked to Staples in public records databases. He is serving a 10-year sentence at a Jefferson City prison facility, Missouri Department of Corrections records show.). OK, talk to you later. I had a towel around my shoulders and just the bathing suit on.. Dygert's family learned about the abuse around 2010, the year Newman was convicted and sentenced to life in state prison. When we got there, Chuck was up on stage and the entire crowd of kids was cheering, Chuck, Chuck, Chuck! Jones said. ), A probationary agreement Newman signed Oct. 22, 2003 specifically prohibited nudity or sexual behavior, as well as further visits from out-of-state kids and sleepovers during which Newman spent the night alone with one or more children. White, Kanakuks CEO, frequently had conversations with campers about sex, condoms, date rape, and masturbation. The fact that Newman regularly hosted boys in his hot tub was no secret, although his supervisors at the camp maintain they didnt know of the nudity or abuse. An anonymous "John Doe" plaintiff who says he suffered sex abusewhile he attended a Christian youth camp based near Branson recentlysued a former counselorfor civil damages. After White purchased Kanakuk Kamps from his father in 1976, he continued the tradition of communal bathing.. "Bonding" was just one of the justifications Dygert and Hoffpauir say that Newman offered for his abuse. Evan Hoffpauir, a man from Branson who says he survived sex abuse by former Kanakuk counselor Peter Newman, praised the First Baptist Church in West Plains for its move. All-Ages family resort, along withday camps in eight states including Missouri, with his wife Debbie! 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