I didn't talk to anyone. This horrific pedophile who molested boys for years at Kamp Kanakuk, is A flyer for the Ignite men's conference slated for Liberty University from March 17-18, 2017. Hoffpauirsaid he was in seventh grade when he first encountered Newman. More:Survivors, ex-employees say unreported abuse at Kanakuk camps in Branson spans decades. For years I tried to forget about it, stuffed it away in the depths of my mind only sharing it with my wife and counselor. Courtesy of Carolineand one other girl gathered the courage to relay what happened. 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. Gradually, they connected with others who identify as survivors. So I did masturbate by hand and he did too, under the water. With the summer season just days around the corner, I set three criteria by which I expected Pete to live for the remainder of our partnership:, 1.) 2023 www.news-leader.com. While Caroline was discussing the groping incident with Chancey in 2016, she recalled that hebrought the boy into the meeting. Grimes was terminated by Kanakuk for inappropriate behavior and poor judgment, according to an April 3, 2021 letter attorney Ted Tredennick sent to the Facts About Kanakuk website. "He was very macho, manly, like, tough, in a way. A reporter attempted calls to four phone numbers linked to Staples in public records databases. A growing amount of evidence contradicts that narrative. One night, Kanakuk Kamps counselorspacked every single camper, like 300 kids in a mosh pit type of thing, said Caroline, who was 13. Like independent house churches, they have no outside reality check if they go sour Robert John Morgan, a former pilot for Kanakuk CEO White, pleaded guilty in 2004 to sexually abusing a young girl and remains on Missouri's sex offender registry. (Last year, Newman was found liable for more than $5 million in damages in that case, Missouri court records show.) They were rich. And they vouched for Pete. So that's how it started out.". Kanakuk leaders also have described convicted child molester Pete Newman as a lone predator but he wasn't the first or last abuser connected to the camp. They were unfamiliar with Joe White. So I started going to Youth Life, hanging out with Pete. Price, who has worked with at least three schools and is a girlsvolleyball coach in St. Louis, continued to volunteer with the Kanakuk-affiliated KLIFE youth ministry until at least February 2022, when a reporter called the Urban KLIFE chapter in St. Louis. But only he and Newman were present, he now recalls. Youre growing up and becoming a teenager, hanging around boys. "His logic was like, it's OK to masturbate," Hoffpauir explained. White, Kanakuks CEO, frequently had conversations with campers about sex, condoms, date rape, and masturbation. The letter, which references Newmans potential promotion to director at K-Kountry, is generally encouraging but notes the need for Newman to develop Directors Judgment and Directors Restraint when spending time with kids. 2023 www.news-leader.com. 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. Webfrom dust we come to dust we return quran. Then he made his way up my leg and put his fingers in my vagina, she said. In 2018, Newman was found liable for $10 million in damages, but was later released from a garnishment.) We believe in salvation, we dontbelieve in punishment, Jesus forgives, and we are going to forgive the camper, Caroline said Chancey told her. More than 20,000 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. WebWarning: strpos(): Empty needle in /var/home/ikvetlvq/meinardadraudze.lv/retro-bowl/index.php on line 1 Fuschs parents met Green when they picked their son up from camp and were impressed. Kanakuk Ministries president Doug Goodwin, who also has been identified as the camps chief operating officer, said in an interview that Newmans case was the first time weve ever dealt with anything like this., In a deposition in a civil suit filed by one of Newmans victims, Kanakuk CEO Joe White said sexual abuse wasn't even on the radar screen. There's no one to blamebut Pete and Kanakuk. How's your family? Dygert referred Hoffpauir then living overseas to Staples, who talked to Hoffpauir using the Skype app. People thought of Paul Green as this God-like figure, said Blake Fusch, who was 14 when he spent a summer in the 30-year-old counselors cabin. He added that Newman "already established in my brain that this masturbation stuff was not wrong, because I wasn't lusting. 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. That just destroyed her, and my family was shocked.". 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 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.. Kind of a step further than that is holding Kanakuk responsible. The counselor was allowed to stay and to return the following summer, Horn said. ", "The issue of right and wrong with masturbation is the issue of lust," White wrote in his '90s-era book for Christian youth, published in connection with a fundamentalistchurch nonprofit, Focus on the Family. More:From the editor: How we reported stories about sex abuse at Kanakuk Kamps, As he rose through the ranks at Kanakuk, Newman was promoted as someone who excelled at bonding with children and counseling them on sexual topics. Great. "These are the most affluent kids in the country," he said. On Feb 4., a separateanonymous plaintiff sued Newman for the same amount of money. ", "It was just things that are not normal," Hoffpauir said. Kanakuk plays a key role in Branson, itself a homespun tourism hub andglobal bastion of American-style conservative Christianity. I feel like I can tell you anything. I laid there then I sat up and said, Chuck! He froze.. The newspaper left a voicemail for Staples at First Baptist Church, of Branson, where Staples serves as family life pastor. And while Kanakuk promised it had changed its policies to prevent future abuse, another counselor, Lee Bradberry, was convicted in 2011 two years after He'd take me out for ice cream, one-on-one. Increased responsibility for our camp's 14-acre property, 2.) "Super-fun guy, muscular, real big, sporty, athletic the guy that all kids wanted to be when they grew up.". Counselors monitored us in the shower while they sat on a bench. 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. One of the victims was a boy he had chaperoned from Florida to the Branson camp. ", "And it was Pete," Hoffpauir said. 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. 2023 www.news-leader.com. We are committed to our vision that todays young adults are the Christian leaders of tomorrow, and we will continue to advocate for their safety as they grow in friendships, faith, and confidence. 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. Hoffpauir, now 34, recalledthat during the phone call, Newmantold him, "Things are getting crazy. Hoffpauir grew up in Branson. Dygert's wife, Chelsea, "is very passionate and has a lot of righteous indignation about what Kanakuk has allowed to happen, and how they've covered it up and continue to cover up their negligence," he said. After a few moments of silence, Fusch said, Green replied: It was an isolated situation and itll never happen again.. Like, 'This would take our relationship to the next level,' Dygert said Newman told him. More than 20,000 kids age 7-18 attend each summer. A request to interview Chancey and another staff member present at the meeting was declined by a lawyer for Kanakuk. 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.. He said that as an underage minor, he was abused on and off Kanakuk property by Newman, though not during the time he was formally enrolled at Kanakuks K-2 facility as a camper. 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. A camp staffer referred questionsto a general "communications" inbox. WebNewman pleaded guilty in 2010 to seven counts of sexual abuse, and the prosecutor said Newmans victim count might be in the hundreds. The detective suggested having the boy confront Green on a phone call, which police would record. 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. "I'm just saying (to her), you cannot blame other people. 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