A Taney County Sheriff's Department investigative report indicates former Kanakuk Kamps director Pete Newman took advantage of that position to have sex with teenage boys over a 10-year period.
In his report, Deputy Ronnie Roberts details a June 3 interview with a 16-year-old who is alleged to be one of Newman's victims:
"Between 2005 and 2008, Pete Newman became a close friend of his by attending family dinners, sleepovers, bible studies, taking vacations together and writing letters. Pete would hold one-on-one sessions with (the boy) in Pete's hot tub (at Pete's residence) and would request they be naked. Pete would discuss life's struggles with (him) and talk about masturbation. Pete would explain that if (the boy) would masturbate with him in his hot tub then there would be no lust and therefore (the boy) would not be sinning."
The boy told Roberts he and Newman masturbated together 10 times over a four-year period.
The sex went further than masturbation with another teenager, according to the report. After beginning with the masturbation sessions with the 13-year-old, the report said, "Pete started masturbating (the boy) and (the boy) would then masturbate Pete." That led to oral sex when the boy turned 15.
Newman allegedly used the hot tub trick on a 14-year-old, again resulting in mutual masturbation sessions.
When the Sheriff's Department began contacting former campers from other states, they heard more disturbing stories. Parents from Tennessee told the deputy their son, who was 14 at the time, reported engaging in the same type of activity with Newman.
Roberts described Newman's tactics, saying Newman became close to boys aged 11 to 15, hung out with them, gained their parents' trust, then beginning slowly with the hot tub and leading to sexual experiences. Roberts referred to it as "the grooming process" used by sexual offenders.
10 comments:
I am sad to say that this is probably true. And totally sick!
I'd like to know the timeline here. When did Kanakuk's administration learn that something was wrong? Was it when Newman wrote his letter of apology or was it earlier than that and in response Newman wrote the letter.
I am also confused about the timeline of the victims after reading the report. The victims are identified as #10, #12 so does this mean there are 12 known victims? Are all the victims currently 21-25 years old?
Link to actural warrant http://ozarksfirst.com/media/pdf/NewmanCharges-PC.pdf Very disgusted..
As a Kanakuk family we are saddened.
Yeah, yeah but what about the Carthage Press running 40 articles on the Swine flu on the front page?
we are a kanakuk family and my kids have been to the kamp where pete newman was the director. i am so thankful that they have had no abuse. does anyknow if any of the abuse happened at the camps or was it at his personal residence and in the community.
Knowing Pete, as a trusted friend, I am completly and utterly outraged, disgusted, and disapointed by his actions because it totally goes against what he taught me and many others as campers. I have no repect left for him in my heart.
to the person below me who asked about the age of the victims: unfortunately the victims were 11-15 years old this is like a child molestor.
i went to kanakuk k7 this year back in august and it was a great kamp that really cares about safety so NOBODY believe it doesnt care about the kids or blame this on kanakuk. nobody should think that kanakuk just wants to make money and doesnt care about kids (espescially since it is in fact now a NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION ). kanakuk is a very moral place.
the abuse cant be proven to have happened at kamp and it cant be proven that it didnt, but reading the full story, it seems like it just occured with kampers that he invited to his house after kamp. as a kamper in august of this year i am saddened that people are saying really bad things about kanakuk. it is not kanakuk's fault (there is NO indication that he did anything like this at kamp and all the boys who were molested and told someone have all claimed that it happened at his hot tub in his house. none have said it happened to them at kamp) and it also saddens me that people are making fun of kanakuk for their concern about Swine Flu.
This is Kanakuk's fault. This is a leader in their organization. They are in the business...profit or non...of dealing with children. There should be a 0% tolerance for this type of behavior. We should all request our money back. Joe White should refund it. They knew and they did not tell until after the summer season was over. Withholding information about the safety of God's children is a sin.
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