Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Lawsuit papers served on Pete Newman


Online Taney County Circuit Court documents indicate former Kanakuk Kamp director Pete Newman, serving two life sentences plus 30 years in prison, was served Monday with a lawsuit from an Arkansas man he molested years ago.

The other defendants in the case, Kanakuk Ministries and K-Kountry, have already been served.

The lawsuit, filed Jan. 31, charges officials at the Christian sports camp Kanakuk with fraud for allowing Pete Newman to masquerade as a role model at the same time he was molesting scores of underage boys. The petition was filed on behalf of a Little Rock man who was only 12 years old when Newman allegedly began grooming him.

Among the allegations in the petition:

-Kanakuk officials had received sexual misconduct reports about Pete Newman as early as 1999. (He remained in Kanakuk's employ until 2009.)

-Kanakuk's cost-saving policies encouraged employees recruiting campers in the off-season to stay with families, providing opportunities for Newman to zero in on potential victims.

-Kanakuk promoted Newman as a "camp director, devoted husband, loving, beloved friend and mentor to youth" long after being made aware of sexual misconduct allegations. Camp officials also allowed Newman to "continue to promote himself all over America as an expert on teenage sexual purity."

-Newman had one-on-one Bible studies with boys in his hot tub.

-Newman used his unrestricted access to Kanakuk facilities to lure underage boys to the facilities during the off-season for sexual purposes.

-Newman bombarded the plaintiff, referred to as "John Doe, J. G." in the petition with phone calls and letters and engaged in phone sex with him.

-Newman had sexual relations with boys in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. (Not mentioned was Colorado where Newman, who is currently serving two life sentences plus 30 years in a Missouri penitentiary, still faces charges.)

-At a "Purity Conference" in Memphis, Newman engaged a group of boys in sex talk, telling them what it was like to "have sex with a woman now that he was married."

-Newman invited the plaintiff to a conference in Oklahoma where he tried to get the boy to engage in sodomy, was turned down, and finally convinced him to engage in a mutual masturbation session.

According to the petition, the plaintiff was first seduced by Newman on Feb. 7, 2003, and then again the following day at K-Kountry in Taney County, at an area known as "The Pit," a foam pit next to the gymnastics equipment.

In the summer of 2003, the petition says, Newman lured the children with a yellow jeep into "spending time with him on Kanakuk property."

During the Purity Conference in Tennessee in 2004, Newman again engaged in a mutual masturbation session with the boy and then took advantage of him at the conference in Oklahoma in 2005, according to the lawsuit.

Kanakuk officials and Newman are charged with fraud, negligent supervision of a minor, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent infliction of emotional damage, breach of duty in loco parentis (serving in place of the parents) and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

The petition indicates the plaintiff suffers from "severe depression and ongoing anxiety and that he is "psychologically confused and spiritually damaged by a person promoted to him by Kanakuk as a fole model."

The plaintiff is asking for a jury trial.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope this person pleads with the court to shut down this "Christian camp" once and for all.

Anonymous said...

Hey 1:20.... is your beef with Christianity or the camp? You do realize that about 15,000 kids (many of them being inner city kids)a summer go there, whos lives are enriched because of the experience they have while at camp. No doubt that if the camp is culpable for the crime they should be punished, but shutting it down is a bit extreme.

Anonymous said...

hey 7:1 Just like Joe White turning his back on what Pete Newman. It is amazing how people so easily want to discount the kids were molested and robbed of their innocense from the very man that helped your kid have a memorable experience. Ask your kid if he minds that someone took it on the chin so they could be saved.

It is what it is, if the camp is unsafe with Joe White and Chris Cooper running the facilities then it is safe. Do you mind if your kid gets molested so others can be saved. Think about that question. I know it is NO.

Again please do not discount that the leadership is not right and whatever has to be done has to be done. if it is time to close then it is time to close.

Anonymous said...

1:47
Fair enough I see your point and hate that I may come off discounting what the victims are suffering through. I cant even imagine. I cant imagine what the parents are suffering through as well. But if we are going to shut a camp down because of this then why dont we shut the catholic church down, close all public schools, end all social programs and sports..... Ofcourse Kanakuk should be held accountable if proven culpable. But shutting them down is extreme.

Anonymous said...

If the "Kamp" is shut down - It's God's discipline and we know He does correct, call us to repent and in order to change our behavior and thought process. If the camp is shut down - it is God working through the court system in order to bring his people back to Him. Read the bible - it's all about God loving His people so much that he uses discipline and correction to bring them to living a life of righteousness and to glorify Him. Even..."good people" such as Joe White and friends!!! Perhaps God will go to the "extreme" of shutting the camp down in order for the sinful behavior of management to be revealed and for them to be held accountable. Kanakuk is not the only place for our children to be saved and have good Christian experiences. If we believe that Kanakuk is above it all - then we have idolized the "Kamp", what it stands for, and its a slap in the face to God - stating that He can't do His job of bringing redemption to His people through any other place than "Kamp." Come on......

Anonymous said...

If the "Kamp" is shut down - It's God's discipline and we know He does correct, call us to repent and in order to change our behavior and thought process. If the camp is shut down - it is God working through the court system in order to bring his people back to Him. Read the bible - it's all about God loving His people so much that he uses discipline and correction to bring them to living a life of righteousness and to glorify Him. Even..."good people" such as Joe White and friends!!! Perhaps God will go to the "extreme" of shutting the camp down in order for the sinful behavior of management to be revealed and for them to be held accountable. Kanakuk is not the only place for our children to be saved and have good Christian experiences. If we believe that Kanakuk is above it all - then we have idolized the "Kamp", what it stands for, and its a slap in the face to God - stating that He can't do His job of bringing redemption to His people through any other place than "Kamp." Come on......

Anonymous said...

I appreciate your response but being SODOMIZED is extreme. Accountibility must take place regardless of what it looks like. Imagine being 12 years old, told to get naked and sing Jesus songs while doing being molested. That is EXTREME. Again, it is amazing how comments always go towards extreme consequences for the camp and how wrong it is. Healing for all of these boys and families are already extreme. They are paying the price today and for many years to come. If your kid was sodomized at a camp and they knew of the counselors tendencies, would you be so gracious.

Anonymous said...

Herein lies the issue for many Kanakuk families. The full exent of what the victim's have experienced has been "cleaned up" for print. No one has really divulged what actually happened and in what context these horrors occurred. It's given Joe White a lot of wiggle room to double talk,and give an alternate version of reality (some would call Joe's statements LIES). Joe's version of events, in many cases, is in direct conflict with what the victims have said. Given what happened, I'll believe the kids before I believe Joe.