money New report reexamines, sheds light on abuse scandal at Branson-area Kanakuk Kamps
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of Lee Bradberry.
A new report argues a yearslong abuse scandal from a prominent former director at Branson-area Kanakuk Kamps was more widespread and systemic than reported before.
The report, published Sunday on The Dispatch, includes new documents, interviews and analysis about the years Peter Newman rose from the ranks of counselor to camp director and how he abused young boys along the way.
Newman pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexually abusing boys in 2010 and received a sentence that would put him in prison for the rest of his life, but that was just "the tip of a terrible iceberg," the report states.
"The true dimensions of the worst Christian sex abuse scandal you've never heard have long been largely unknown," the report states. "Newman's initial arrest and sentencing received little media attention. ... Moreover, the limited scope of the guilty plea concealed the sheer scale of the abuse. The resulting civil lawsuits received little attention, and nondisclosure agreements silenced victims and kept evidence under seal."
The report outlines several instances of abuse and how his charisma and popularity allowed him to groom boys and get access to them.
It contains accounts from victims who said despite prohibitions on "any homosexual behavior, any sexual contact between staff and camper, physical contact with campers" and nudity, Newman would frequently hold conversations with them naked and taught them to masturbate.
"Newman presented himself as an abstinence expert, offering to have awkward conversations with children to help keep them pure before marriage," the report states. "Sometimes with parental consent, he talked to campers about sexual sin. Unknown to parents, instead of teaching the children not to masturbate, he gave them lessons on how to do it."
The report also sheds light on the camp's role in the abuse.
One section states that while one Kanakuk leader, Joe White, claimed in sworn depositions he had no knowledge of the events, parents had called him to complain about children riding four-wheelers and jumping into a lake naked.
Another parent had expressed concern about their son returning home from being with Newman and "throwing his jeans away." And in court documents, one person accused Newman of having "one-on-one sleepovers with boys."
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The Dispatch report also unearthed complaints that the camp took steps to shield itself from Missouri mandatory reporting requirements by referring Newman to a lawyer instead of a psychiatrist. That document stated:
"The decision to send Newman to a lawyer instead of a psychiatrist shielded Newman's statements and Kanakuk Kamp's responses to them through ... the attorney-client privilege, and avoided the requirement for mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse under Missouri law."
Kanakuk leaders told the Dispatch they had reported Newman to a previous Taney County prosecutor, but that person did not press charges.
But despite numerous and continued red flags, the camp still featured Newman on its website, recruitment trips, written materials and father-son retreats.
And even as some allegations of abuse became public when Newman admitted his crimes to camp leadership, Kanakuk officials called and met with families to inform them, offering to pay for counseling.
Multiple families also told Dispatch reporters the camp sent victims' families "a copious amount of Kanakuk gear, PlayStations, iPads, iPhones and snack baskets." They also offered hunting trips and weekend getaways at White's house and were offered free camp tuition.
But not all victims were notified, the report states.
And while Kanakuk promised it had changed its policies to prevent future abuse, another counselor, Lee Bradberry, was convicted in 2011 — two years after Newman's arrest — of second-degree statutory sodomy, sexual misconduct and two counts of child molestation for abusing three boy campers over the course of four weeks.
Kanakuk, for its part, published a statement on its website maintaining it had "many measures" in place to prevent the abuse with Newman at the time but said "individuals' deception of family, friends, Kanakuk and our camp families was deep."
The statement also highlighted the "comprehensive Child Protection Plan" created in the wake of the abuse revelations and said investigations following the "events of 2009 have determined that no one at Kanakuk knew that any criminal activity was being committed."
It did not say whether those investigations were internal or from outside law enforcement agencies.
"No charges for failure to report were ever filed against any Kanakuk staff," the statement says. "... We believe victims of abuse should never have to endure secrecy, cover ups or dismissal, so we have taken the approach of listening and responding to families as our utmost priority."
The Dispatch reporters wrote in the story's conclusion that while many people asked them why they'd explore details of abuse roughly a decade after it happened, they felt "there is no statute of limitations on truth."
"The response is simple. There is no statute of limitations on truth. While there are limitations on legal processes, there are not statutes of limitation for individual and institutional accountability," it states. "A false narrative has circulated about Kanakuk for a decade, and parents have sent children to the camp without knowledge of its history or access to material facts."
"Nobody resigned as a result of the failure to stop a decade of abuse," it continues. "There was no disciplinary action against any of Newman’s supervisors, and Joe White is still the head of the camp today."
The full report on the abuse is available at https://thedispatch.com/.
Katie Kull covers local government for the News-Leader. Got a story to tell? Give her a call at 417-408-1025 or email her at kkull@news-leader.com. You can also support local journalism at News-Leader.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Kanakuk Kamps Christian camp abuse scandal documented in new report
