Former Kanakuk Christian Camps director Pete Newman was charged today with four felony sex crimes involving children.
Online Taney County Circuit Court records indicate Newman is charged with statutory sodomy, two counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15, and enticement of a child. The arrest was made by the Taney County Sheriff's Department, according to court records.
The sodomy count allegedly occurred on May 1, 2006, one of the sexual misconduct counts exactly one year later, with the other allegedly taking place May 1, 2008, and the enticement reportedly happening Sept. 1, 2008.
Kanakuk Camps in Branson, has been one of the most successful Christian children's sports camps in the United States. Newman, 34, reportedly resigned as director earlier this year, with one website quoting an unnamed source from Kanakuk as saying he was "dealing with a personal family crisis."
Details of the allegations against Newman can be found at this link.
16 comments:
Could you please provide a link to the charge on the court's website?
I have not had any success linking to the actual pages on Missouri's case.net site in the past, but if you go to https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/base/welcome.do, click on "litigant name search" and type in Newman's name and 2009 and it is the only result.
I'm just trying to confirm that it's the former camp director. Do you know of anywhere I can confirm that the one we're talking about was born in 1975?
you can confirm it all by going to the site Randy suggested...devastating news
NOT TRUE!!!!
This is extremely sad. I have had three boys attend Pete's camp and they idolize him. I hope this is untrue.
This is extremely sad. I have had three boys attend Pete's camp and they idolize him. I hope this is untrue.
Wake up Kanakuk....this is the second child molestor youve hired..How bout a better screening before you trust someone to be around hundreds of kids. What child molestor wouldnt want to work at a kids camp? Duh, its the perfect setup.
Even doing back ground checks you can't weed out every one. If they have never been caught, there would be no record. If you also notice, the incidents that have been charged so far didn't happen during a normal term. There are many safe guards in place an there has been for years. However there is no camp, church, day care center, school etc. that can ever be 100% safe. Are you supposed to screen the kids too. You know teenagers can molest as well. My kids have gone there for years and will go years more.
It is a tragedy. So many lives injured. Playing a blame game only makes it worse. The blame is with Pete not with the kamp.
My prayers are for mercy and healing for all involved---Pete, his family, the boys and families involved, and the camp staff. GOD is in the business of healing broken hearts, lives and families. Kanakuk is a GREAT camp and will remain great. People are human and flawed and stand in need of redemption, deliverance,and mercy....around the globe. May the peace of Christ that passes all understanding be with you during this fiery trial.
Pretty hard to read! I worked with him for 3 years. . never knew anything. Maybe he'll repent and have a awesome prison ministry!
http://ozarksfirst.com/media/pdf/NewmanCharges-PC.pdf
How sad... it's really hard to keep your children safe these days!
if you ever need any tips on doing so, check this blog out... it's so helpful
www.yovia.com/blogs/safekids
We need to all be in prayer for the kids, the camp, the director, his wife and his family.
I am a little puzzled by a few things. According to the warrant application the investigation started on 4/23/09. On 6/3/09 a 16y/r old reported sexual misconduct by the accused in an interview and on 6/5/09 another 16 y/o provided a written statement reporting sexual misconduct by the accused. On 6/8/09 Joe White received a letter from the director confessing his actions.
So...why did it take until Sept 14 for charges to be filed and Kanakuk families to be notified? This is almost 5 months after it was first reported. Also according to infomation I found on the internet he was working with another church youth camp around july 14th. I don't understand how after he wrote a confession letter he was allowed to continue working with kids. Notice on the newsletter it is dated June 2009 and refers to him as the former director of Kanakuk camps. Hopefully he did not get a chance to work for the other camp.
http://www.christchurchfrederica.org/eyc/EYSee%20Times/EYSee%20Times_June%202009.pdf
The Warrant Application shows at least 16 "victims". How many more are there? I am afraid with as long as this has gone on, there may be many many more young men coming forward now that these charges have been filed. But I pray that I am wrong.
"Don't excuse yourself by saying, 'Look, we didn't know.'
For God understands all hearts, and He sees you.
He who guards your soul knows you knew.
He will repay all people as their actions deserve."
~Proverbs 24:12
I've heard the "kamp" is affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, thus the spelling. There are, after all, three k's in Kanakuk and spelling "kamp" with a k just signals that. So this is not much of a surprise, really.
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