In one of the few reports following up on Kanakuk since Pete Newman's arrest and guilty plea on sex charges involving teen boys, Kanakuk officials tell KSPR in Springfield they are
paying extra attention to the people whom they hire.
"We've learned some things. We've learned how important it is to understand the possibility of abuse, and the fact we need to be aware of the signs of abuse," said Julie Coxie with Kanakuk Kamps.
She says the camp is also working to make sure future employees don't slip through the cracks. "We require references. We do a background check with a reputable company. They do a national criminal background check," said Coxie.
36 comments:
I think what the public wants to know is what will Kanakuk do to enforce the policies they have had in the books from even before the time Pete was hired.
I'm not sure a screening process would have discovered Pete's agenda since he had no previous record.
Kanakuk apparently relaxed their policies regarding Pete leaving with kids.
I just read that article. Rather one sided and poor innacurate reporting- stating that Pete was a counselor -not a director , and only mentioned 3 of the charges.
No where in the article did it discuss camp policies...having them and enforcing them to maintain the integrity of the camp.
We are not sending our boys back there this year... So very sad about it, but feel like we really have no other choice. Trust was broken, Kanakuk is still not fully managing the situation, therefore we have not found restored trust.
Yeah, that background check would have done a lot of good with Pete.
I doubt he had even a traffic ticket before all this.
I have noticed on the Kanakuk website an entire new section regarding child safety. It does seem they have made some changes which should be very effective...if adhered to. Of course, therein lies the problem. They have given all parents reason to question if they will adhere to these positive changes. Only time will tell. The time spent proving themselves a "safe" camp will be spent without my child, and many more children with parents like me, who are unwilling to let their children be the "guinea pigs" during this time of attempted redemption.
I think they need to pay more attention to the employees behavior after they hire them, instead of before.
All parents really need to do is pull their kids out of the camp. I pulled mine from there. I question the entire camp now- are the zip lines safe? what about food preparation? medical administration? what about boating safety?
Too much baggage to send your kids to this place now. Sad to say.
Six more days.
I agree with 10:15....management has fault in this awful ordeal due to their lax policies surrounding Pete and their lack of knowledge about child sexual abuse. How can you run a camp for 50 plus years and not be knowledgeable about these types of issues and what to watch for behaviors in perpetrators? I, too, will not send my kids back to Kanakuk and it is sad....they love the place.
Management needs to own up to their own sin in this mess: turning the eye, pushing info under the carpet, not listening to their gut or the Holy Spirit that something was terribly off. I work with survivors of CSA everyday and it is very rare that an adult in the child's circle did not know or have some knowledge that something terribly wrong was going on. In many cases the victim tells a person in authority only to be dismissed. According to info stated on these blogs, it sounds like parents did make efforts to notify management of many improprieties and Kanakuk was unresponsive. In the healing process I see many survivors struggling with anger towards those that should have protected them and did not. Unfortunately, Kanakuk behaved as many of the above referenced parents, - they knew something was wrong - but yet failed to protect these children.
Joe White and management - own up to your own sin in this before the Lord and before your "family" of Kampers! Then we will really see how you believe in the Lord, trusting HIm in the most difficult of circumstances, not protecting your kingdom. Allow His to prune, change and mold, as He does with us all, so that Kanakuk will exist to glorify His kingdom, not those of earthly men.
2 days....
Can't come soon enough.
Here's hoping
Perhaps, at this point, the best Kanakuk can do in "owning up" to any lax on their part will be in enforcing rules already on the books, and introduce new ones as needed.
They can't come out now, publically, and say "We should have done this" or, "We should have done that."
That would only invite civil suits against them from people who just want to take Kanakuk down.
Right now, they have to still be reeling from how Pete betrayed their trust in him. And, they have a fresh summer to help build young lives, and restablish what had been a sterling record...and great reputation over the years.
Hopefully, after the criminal justice system settles the Pete Newman issue, Kanakuk can take whatever "pruning" God has for them, persevere, and become, once again, the great camp it always has been.
It won't be easy!
It shouldn't be easy. Kanakuk should be working harder than any other camp to insure the safety of campers and staff.
All civil suits would not be an attempt "to take Kanakuk down" but rather an attempt to protect children by holding the camp responsible for its part in this molestation case. By holding Kanakuk responsible it sends a message to ALL camps...the message being the vital importance and necessity of having rules, regulations, policies and procedures in place to protect children...and most importantly, adhering to them.
Pete Newman did not succeed molesting these dozens (or more) children without the enabling of Kanakuk camp. The camp gave him too much freedom and allowed him to break the rules. Parents had trust in Kanakuk's ability to protect their children by hiring qualified, trustworthy staff and having rules and guidelines in place that would make it very, very difficult for the Pete Newman's of the world to succeed in "grooming" children while in Kanakuk's employ.
Kanakuk is absolutely, defintely culpable and should be held accountable.
Agreed, sad to say. Still love the place. It's just so sad that they made such a monumental mistake. They should be held responsible, and they should not be forced into closing. Problem is: how?
It is sad. But, it is like we tell our children. When you make a mistake, or tell a lie you have to own up to the mistake (or lie)and try to make it right.
Then you also have to live with the fact that after your mistake or lie, there will be those who will not trust you for a very long time...if ever. These are the consequences.
But...if you are diligent in your honesty and good behavior...maybe, just maybe you will begin to gain back trust.
The trust Kanakuk desires will be hard earned, and as the earlier commentor said, should be difficult to obtain after such a gross error of judgement and the subsequent lies about the reason Pete Newman left Kanakuk.
Does any one know how I might go about seeing the live broadcast via the internet? I really want to see what goes on in the courtroom and see this chapter closed for myself. Praying for those courageous boys and hoping they are protected from the cameras... surely they will be.
3:34, there will be no live broadcast. Why would you think that? And these boys ARE PROTECTED, as they should be. There is NO WAY that these boys, or their testimony, would be publicly exposed. It's against the law. They will be protected at all cost.
Judge Orr:
The eyes of victimized children and their families, allong with concerned parents and citizens all across this nation, are fixed on you.
You know the crimes. You heard him confess. You know the minimum penalty. You know the maximum penalty.
WHO will you be show concern for?
Pete?
His family?
Victims?
Citizens?
Potential victims when he's released?
People should reap what they sow. It's a biblical mandate, as well as good ol common sense.
There should be no "mercy" given, except by the One who truly can redeem.
We, the citizens, expect you to punish equivalent to the crimes. There would be no justification for anything less.
We are depending on you for justice, and safety.
Leave the "mercy" and "rehabilitation" to God. Pete needs to spend the rest of his life getting it "right" with God.
Don't punish these victims again, please.
Please, Judge Orr, do what is right.
3:52
Cameras will be in the courtroom as earlier reported.
RANDY...do you have any information on how to view the Wednesday hearing on the Internet?
Thanks for what help you can give.
As far as I know, there won't be any kind of live coverage. That would be highly unusual. I will follow the case as bsst as I can by monitoring the court websites and the area news websites, and perhaps making a call or two to see what I can find out.
Randy,
If no live coverage via tv or internet...what is the point of the cameras? Do they visually record court proceedings as a general rule?
The cameras will simply be to provide snippets for the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. If there are any still cameras there, they might provide something for either the Springfield or Branson newspapers, but I have not heard anything about still cameras being in the courtroom.
Ahhh...thanks Randy...just for press coverage. Not like the CourtTV days.
That's for sure.
As as concerned parent of FORMER Kanakuk campers, who is out of state, I sure hope someone will report completely on this sentencing. There are plenty of us living with this out of state who follow what we can find on the internet and I for one am very interested in who, if anyone, testifies on Pete's behalf...
Can't imagine ANYONE testifying on his behalf except for his personal family.
If Katie does, she's sunk.
If others do, they're sunk.
Sad, but true.
This sociopath is and forever will be: evil and dangerous!
Truth is not relative.
What this means is that no matter what "perceived good" Pete has done in his life (which will surely be argued tomorrow), the TRUTH of his crimes is still the cold, hard, facts of the TRUTH. Anything else the Newmans or Mr. Defense attorney want to say about Pete is irrelevant. The TRUTH is what crimes brought him here to this sentencing. We're not here to discuss anything but his crimes.
Truth is not relative.
The truth is he admitted to these horrific crimes against innocent children, all in the name of God. And what he admitted to is only the tip of the iceberg. He now needs to take his medicine and everybody else needs to accept that he's going to sow what he has reaped.
Truth is not relative.
**reap what he has sown...sorry.
Hopefully this time tomorrow we'll know his sentence and this part of this story will end.
Hopefully it will aid in the healing of hundreds of little boys.
Hopefully it will free his wife to move on.
Hopefully Kanakuk will own their responsibility in this.
Hopefully Peter Daniel Newman will be forgotten forever.
Hopefully he gets what he deserves.
Hopefully his family will find joy again, with the help of God alone.
Personally, I hope we all never forget. Forgetting may cause people to let their guard down in the future. There are many other "Pete Newmans" in the world. The only good that could possibly come of this case would be hard lessons learned and knowledge gained that could possibly alert us to the signs of pedophilia. But, we will have to remember to be able use the knowledge. Let's remember and protect children in the future.
9:16 you are right. That's the ONLY positive in this.
The "Pete Newmans" of this world will have a tough time fooling all of us who have followed this case. It's difficult to really trust anyone now.
As for his enablers, AND THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE, we'll NEVER trust you again!! Nor will we trust anyone who marches in that courtroom tomorrow on his behalf, or has written a letter asking for leniency on his behalf. Shame on you!!
Randy,
Will there be any way to see if Pete comments on any of his actions? We would love to hear what he has to say. Will press be allowed to print what he says? And do you think this will actually take place tomorrow, or will it be postponed again? I sure hope not. We need closure badly!
The press will be permitted to report on anything that takes place in court. The question is- just how many media outlets will be there? The only one that has been doing preview stories has been KSPR in Springfield. There have been no previews in the Springfield News-Leader, the Branson newspaper, or any other television station, as far as I have been able to tell. That could very well change at the actual sentencing tomorrow.
As for whether the hearing will actually take place, that is always up in the air. Legal proceedings are postponed all the time, not just in this case.
Well, I certainly hope that news outlets other than KSPR are at the hearing tomorrow. Their last story on this case referred to Pete as a "counselor" when he was a director when he committed these crimes, and the story stated that he "had sex with boys at camp" which is pretty inaccurate also.
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