They left all the time , Goodwin said. "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.". One of those boys was among the victims when Ringheim was convicted of sex crimes in 2012. In his 1996 book Pure Excitement, White describes a conversation with a 15-year-old camper who confessed he frequently masturbated and lusted after girls. Newman was in his mid-20s. 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. Shaffer said the camp reassigned Ringheim to maintenance after the complaint. 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.. They were rich. "His logic was like, it's OK to masturbate," Hoffpauir explained. A civil lawsuit filed lateragainst Newman stated that Newman abused 57 underage victims linked to Kanakuk. In the latest lawsuit, attorneys for John Doe XIIIargue that he began to be groomed by Newman for sexual abuse as early as 1999, when he was an underage camp attendee. They were spurred by a growing public awareness of controversy linked to Kanakuk that began in early 2021. We want to insure [sic]that Pete be involved in a lifetime of ministry.. She accused the boy of lying in the eyes of the Lord.. Hoffpauir and Dygert said they are now choosing to make their stories widely public through the news and social media in order to help other survivors and to seek accountability. "These are the most affluent kids in the country," he said. 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. That culture of forgiving extended to Newmanas well. 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. "The sin is what goes on in the mind. 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.. It wasnt right.. ", "She, it's horrible," he told the News-Leader. No more reports of nudity with minors, (a prerequisite so obvious that it should never have to appear on a list of criteria for a Christian leader. OK, I'll pray for you. In a 2011 email to one victims father, CEO White admitted that Newmans nudity while running through camp was serious, against kamp policy, and treated with sobriety and frankness.. A request to interview Chancey and another staff member present at the meeting was declined by a lawyer for Kanakuk. 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.. Both men said the Frenches' reporting gave them a sense of validation, even as it "rocked the boat a lot," in Dygert's words: They learned they weren't alone. Joe White had a meeting about the Gold Bond parties and shut them down after it was documented in an incident report, Clark 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. '", He added, "Now, looking back, I know no grown man should be hanging out with a little kid like that.". A prosecutor told the News-Leader at the time that Newman admitted to sexual activity with as many as 13 other minors. This guy has a raging love for God and it spills over constantly to the snap! ", "He came in the lunchroom," Dygert said. Hoffpauir grew up in Branson. With numerous detailed questions, the newspaper recently reached out by email to 14 members of Kanakuk's leadership team, including owner Joe White and his wife, Debbie-Jo White, and followed-up with a phone call to the camp's main switchboard. Newmans initial arrest and sentencing received little media attention. Peter Newman Life Sentence Courtroom Criminal Law Law Crime Kanakuk Kamps Jeff Merrell Missouri Southwest Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Shower time was weird, he said. In 2003, he was promoted to assistant director of K-Kountry and in 2006 he was promoted to director. Jones told a friend about the 1985 incident, who confirmed her account when contacted for this story. 25 Feb/23. 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 ", The lawsuit adds, "During each of these activities Defendant Newman falsely represented to the young Plaintiff that these behaviors were okay or normal and were not 'sinful'. Gradually, they connected with others who identify as survivors. The next morning, Caroline said, three other girls tearfully told her theyd been assaulted by the same camper. Most of their employees are members, leaders, sometimes pastors at local churches. This will result in instant dismissal of staff with no chance for rehire and probable legal and parental notification.. But when the summer session ended, she said it was clear her parents hadnt been told the details. he recalled. I know what you were doing to me at night, and I didn't like it, he said on the phone with Green. Victims say such confidentiality clauses have kept stories of abuse at Kanakuk from reaching a national audience although that is changing. Kanakuk will forever grieve the victims of Pete Newman and their suffering and continue to pray for their healing and restoration. On that first night of abuse, Dygert said Newman told him, "'This would be one of the best bonding things we could do.' Other prohibitions in the playbook were oddly specific, according to Erin Wood, who worked as a Kanakuk kitchen helper from 1996 to 1998. There were several guidelines in it that my fellow kitchen staff couldn't make heads or tails of, Wood said, citing directives that included No naked zip lining and No naked devotionals., They had to include a rule telling counselors not to disrobe with their entire cabin of children under their supervision to discuss the Bible before bed, she said. And I just didn't answer. That's the No. Hoffpauir said that just after the call ended,hetold his wife for the first time that Newman sexually abused him for five years. So this isn't sexual. When Dygert and Hoffpauir's families learned of the abuse, it caused them to be "damaged from the inside," in the words of Dygert's civil lawsuit papers. 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 Korte, the former camper from Nebraska, said she was frequently in one-on-one conversations with her counselors about the personal details of her sex life, as they asked her how far she had gone with her boyfriend and whether he pressured her to have sex. Dygert said that night, Newman eventually "wanted to tie a string on each other's penises. Ever since Pete Newmanpleaded guiltyto sexually abusing six boys,Kanakuk has touted itself as a leader in child safety, holding seminars across the nation. "We're going to try to renew our vows and do something different because of it. Nothing happened to you?' His mother resisted the idea, but "eventually," Dygert said,shechecked with "one of my friends' parents who had known Pete longer. It was during that Thanksgiving visit that Fusch said he woke one night and could tell that Green had been reaching into Fuschs underwear from his adjacent trundle bed. In the book he says he left out the details but asked her to sit down and advise the camper on the teenagers masturbation and lust issues. "'Dygert, you're one of my best friends. The other is located near Table Rock Lake in the Lampe area. Hoffpauir said that leading up to his marriage, he'd asked himself, "Who's the most spiritual, influential person in my life? "That ministry" Kanakuk "should have caught on.". went the bracelets. White described Coors as a "well-buffed athlete," "tall and as handsome as a model.". 2023 www.news-leader.com. Former Kanakuk camp counselor Peter Newman is already serving two life sentences, plus 30 years, at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. They ziplined naked.It was just a guy thing at Kanakuk to be naked all the time.It was just part of the culture. Dygert's family learned about the abuse around 2010, the year Newman was convicted and sentenced to life in state prison. Increased responsibility for our camp's 14-acre property, 2.) He also went onfather-son retreats with Newman. Years passed before she managed to tell anyone. That just destroyed her, and my family was shocked.". Records in Newmans criminal court case document sexual abuse that took place in Kanakuk cabins, in the pool, in the showers, in the gym, on father-son retreats, in the homes of campersand on a mission trip to China. 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. Supervisors told her they would alert her parents to the incident. To do these things with someone meant that we trusted each other and that we were close this bonding became really powerful for me, even if it was unhealthy bonding.. Few reporters knew about the camps size or importance. Webhow to get to quezon avenue mrt station Uncovering hot babes since 1919. Tennessee resident Michael Armentrout, who worked at Kanakuk as a counselor in 1997 and 1998, also found the nudity disconcerting. At a meeting with the detective the next Monday morning, the family was told to expect an arrest that week. Tredennick said Grimes actions did not constitute a reportable offense in a criminal context when Grimes was terminated in 1989. It only stopped, Hoffpauir said, when he and Madison began seriously dating. In a July 6, 2001 message printed on Kanakuk Kamps letterhead, Newmans supervisor, Cunningham, warned Newman to use extreme caution in his alone time with children.. Rather than firing Newman, Kanakuk leaders gave him additional authority. Just really screwed-up stuff., More:Branson men, both 34, describe Kanakuk sex abuse, call for camp to be held accountable. Pete Newman Sexual Abuse Steve Rabey Steve Rabey is a veteran author and journalist who has published more than 50 books and 2,000 articles about religion, spirituality, and culture. He worked there from 1995 until he was fired in2009. Craig Heidemann, attorney for the plaintiffs, dubbed John Doe XII and John Doe XIII in court filings, declined to comment on the lawsuits during a brief interviewMonday. Were not bringing the Lord into this, Chancey interrupted, according to Caroline. Manybut not all come from wealthy Texas evangelical families. Jones said she was laying down to watch the movie when Chuck Price sat next to her and began tickling her foot. 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. The bill, H.B. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism. '", Newman's logic reflects sexual best practices suggested by Kanakuk's owner, Joe White, as White explicitly outlined in the first edition of his teen manual for "sex, love and dating," titled "Pure Excitement. ", "And it was Pete," Hoffpauir said. The counselors told us to hang our towels over a bar which didnt cover our bodies. Yet according to an affidavit of Newmans former supervisor, included along with the lawsuit, Kanakuk leadership received reports of Newman engaged in nude activity with campers as early as 1999. It wasnt a part of our culture.. Caroline asked to go home but says she was told that could only happen if she were injured. "Sadly, Pete Newman was a master of deception fooling family, friends, neighbors, and us as his former employer. Dygert said he wanted to take the case to the public courts, but the settlement process had taken an "unbelievably enormous toll" on a family member "who was really struggling with her mental health." I had a towel around my shoulders and just the bathing suit on.. 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. WebSample Page; ; We will never stop being sorry for the pain inflicted on victims and their families. He currently resides in Branson, Missouri, with his wife, Debbie Jo. White, Kanakuks CEO, frequently had conversations with campers about sex, condoms, date rape, and masturbation. I was in a room with the director, and about three other people. The counselor was allowed to stay and to return the following summer, Horn said. 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. | (Photo: Ignite) Ignite, a weekend Christian conference that expects to attract some 10,000 men to Liberty University next month, is now drawing criticism for including on their speakers list accused rapist and NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger When Newman was arrested six months later, the camp issued an alert to camp families that included the sexual abuse allegations. 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. He was 13. , according to Caroline into this, Chancey interrupted, according to Caroline hetold. Frequently had conversations with campers about sex, condoms, date rape, masturbation! 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