Kanakuk camp 'abuse survivors' call for independent investigation into sexual assault accusations

For those who call themselves sex-abuse survivors, it's a matter of bringing the facts to light.

A group of people who say they're survivors of past sexual abuse at Kanakuk camp in southwest Missouri called on the Branson-area Christian youth camp to own up to numerous allegations of sex abuse against underage minors by people linked to the camp. They argue Kanakuk should agree to an external, independent investigation.

Those who identify as survivors, along with family members, sent an open letter to camp leadership Thursday with their demands. Chief executive Joe White was given a hard copy, said Scott Hastings, Dallas-based attorney for No More Victims LLC, which provided the letter to the News-Leader in advance.

"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 family’s leadership."

The letter-writers also said, "We are only a small fraction of the Kanakuk survivors, yet our collective abuse experiences span from the 1950s to 2022." (Kanakuk was founded in 1926 and served more than 450,000 campers since then, according to its website. Many of its "kampers" come from affluent evangelical families living in Texas.)

Letter to Kanakuk outlines three demands from No More Victims

Addressed to Kanakuk CEO White but unsigned and undated, the letter outlines three demands from the survivor community: First, that the nationally-known evangelical camp agree to an outside investigation conducted by a law firm, with a goal of documenting abuse accusations the letter says have been kept secret to date. An investigation would also hold camp officials accountable for abuse, improve camp conditions and provide restitution for any victims, No More Victims argues.

The No More Victims letter also asks that the camp "admit to known failures" including "dismissing clear signs of predatory behavior and child sexual abuse, as well as covering up said abuses once known."

This is not the first cover-up accusation Kanakuk has faced.

Former Kanakuk camp director Peter Newman worked at the camp from 1995 to 2009, as the News-Leader reported earlier. In Feb. 2010, Newman pleaded guilty to seven felony charges of sexually abusing boys; in June of that year, he was sentenced to two life sentences plus 30 years in prison.

After the criminal trial, civil lawsuit allegations emerged accusing other Kanakuk counselors and the camp administration of being aware of Newman's activities before Newman's criminal conviction, including incidents reported in 1999 and 2003. Newman reportedly had naked conversations with underage "kampers" and engaged in mutual masturbation and "hot tub Bible studies" with minors in his care.

More: Former Kanakuk counselor Peter Newman named in new sex-abuse lawsuit

More: Lawyers honored for $20 million lawsuit against former Kanakuk camp director

Why NDAs are an issue for some former Kanakuk campers

The survivor community says more such incidents took place and involved other adults. Their Thursday open letter also calls on the camp to end the practice of asking alleged victims to sign legal non-disclosure agreements when their cases are settled, calling the use of NDAs one of many "intimidation tactics" the camp uses to hush up allegations of sexual assault.

Despite such agreements, multiple accusers have begun coming forward to share their grievances with Kanakuk. In July of last year, roughly eight people identifying as victims or their family members went on air with a Texas TV news broadcast to share their comments, their faces hidden from viewers. “My brother was silenced with an NDA," one of the family members told CBS 11.

"Dozens of survivors and family members of survivors have collaborated on this letter," said Hastings, the No More Victims lawyer, on Thursday afternoon. Registered in North Carolina in March 2021, No More Victims sponsors FactsAboutKanakuk.com, a website publicizing abuse allegations linked to the camp.

On a call from Texas, Hastings declined to identify who owns the No More Victims limited-liability corporation.

He said only that it is "supported by victims and victims' family members" and that "because of the situation that Kanakuk has created with threats of retaliation and action against them, the entity has made the decision that it needs to protect the names in the sources of its ownership for fear of further retaliation from Kanakuk."

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 six addresses linked to White and his wife, Debbie-Jo. Messages sent to those addresses came back undeliverable, and the phone numbers appeared to be disconnected.

A representative answering Kanakuk's main phone switchboard referred all questions to an email account for camp communications. The newspaper did not receive a response to written questions sent to that email account by deadline.

No More Victims, Kanakuk trade sternly written letters

Thursday's open letter is not the camp's first brush with No More Victims.

On April 3, 2021, Kanakuk sent a cease-and-desist letter to No More Victims demanding that the group take down the FactsAboutKanakuk website, recently launched at that time. The camp identified 21 items on the website that it characterized as needing correction.

"Your client’s website defames Kanakuk with baseless and dangerous allegations," Houston-based attorneys for the Missouri camp wrote, complaining of "unsubstantiated 'facts,'" and a "concerted misinformation campaign against Kanakuk in hopes of attracting potential sex abuse victims—most likely for its own (financial) gain."

Camp attorneys threatened an "imminent" lawsuit against No More Victims last April, according to a copy of their cease-and-desist letter Hastings provided the News-Leader at the time.

On Thursday, Hastings said Kanakuk had filed no lawsuit against No More Victims since last year.

Reach News-Leader reporter Gregory Holman by emailing gholman@gannett.com. On Twitter, find him at @GregHolmanNL. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Kanakuk camp 'abuse survivors' call for sexual assault investigation