Kanakuk scandal has escaped national radar, local scrutiny

Imagine the reaction of the national news media if a public school teacher had a long history of having sex with students, claiming victims in several states.

And what if, after the authorities finally caught on to this predator, school officials did not do anything for months to let parents know that this man had been teaching their children, and those children may very well be his victims.

Add a few salacious details into the mix, such as hot tub incidents and naked Truth or Dare and the story would be a staple on all of the cable news programs and every media outlet from the New York Times to the National Enquirer.

If such a thing happened, the nation would be outraged and rightfully so; headline-hungry legislators would jump on the opportunity to take advantage of the situation, filing bills to stop the “epidemic” (and yes, they would call it an epidemic) of sexual predators in the classroom.

After all, public schools, if you believe those who are seeking to destroy them, are a cesspool.

But when the situation happens with the director of a Christian youth sports camp, run by a man connected to the politically powerful Focus on the Family organization, the cry for reform is non-existent.

For the past several months, I have written about Pete Newman, former director of Branson, Missouri-based Kanakuk Kamps, who pleaded guilty April 30 to two counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree, three counts of statutory sodomy in the second degree, and three counts of enticement of a child. All of the crimes involved underage boys.

Newman has also been charged in Colorado with sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

Other states are also considering filing charges against Newman.

Meanwhile, Kanakuk Kamps, has managed to sail through virtually unscathed, thanks to a complicit media, and an ultra-conservative Missouri legislature whose outrage against predators seems limited to the handful who somehow to manage to land in public schools.

Kanakuk officials waited for months after firing Newman to tell prospective campers (or kampers as they call them) about what had happened.

Shortly after Newman’s arrest, Kanakuk owner Joe White wrote to families who might be considering sending their children to camp:

Because you are an important part of the Kanakuk family, we wanted to make you aware that earlier today, the Taney County Missouri prosecutor filed a four-count criminal complaint against our former employee, Pete Newman. As you may know, Pete Newman was employed at K-Kountry. The prosecutor’s criminal charges allege that Pete engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with adolescent boys, including some who had been Kanakuk Kampers.

When we became aware of this situation we took immediate action, terminating Pete Newman’s employment. Since that time, we have been working closely with the affected families and appropriate authorities. We reported what we knew to investigators and stayed in contact throughout the process, providing whatever assistance we could. We have also offered our assistance to the impacted families. Our fervent prayers are with those who have been impacted. We look forward to the completion of the legal process to ensure that justice is served.

Since I broke the news about Newman’s arrest on The Turner Report, I have received thousands of comments from readers, many of whom noted that Kanakuk officials had been warned on numerous occasions about Newman and had, in fact, had discussions with him about his unseemly behavior. But even after Newman was fired, it took months before White wrote his letter to Kanakuk families.

Local media has written about Newman and Kanakuk, but only sparingly. Not much of a fuss was made when a judge closed an early hearing, a decision that was contrary to Missouri law. Only a few questions were asked of Kanakuk officials about any steps they were making to ensure that no more predators would be turned loose on campers, and after that, there were no follow-up stories. As far as I can determine, the arrest was never mentioned in the hallowed halls of the Missouri Legislature.

And no wonder, considering that Joe White is connected to some of the most powerful forces in the conservative movement. He has been a regular speaker for Focus on the Family, with that organization’s former director James Dobson praising White’s connection with young people as part of the publicity for one of White’s 16 books.

White has contributed thousands of dollars to the Republican Party.

Next month, Pete Newman will be sentenced and it will not be long before the incident is totally out of the minds of the public. It is hard to believe that no one has an interest in making sure that Kanakuk and other youth camp facilities are standing guard against those who would take advantage of the defenseless.

Apparently, the attention of legislators and the media can only become focused when predators have a license to teach in public schools.


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Turner Report author Randy Turner's latest book, Newspaper Days, can be ordered at this link.