Monday, January 30, 2012

Joe White, Kanakuk ask for later trial date in sex abuse case


In documents filed today in U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, attorneys for Kanakuk Kamps and CEO Joe White asked for a delay in the trial of the sexual abuse civil suit against them, saying that the current June 2013 setting would cause a hardship for operation of Kanakuk Kamps.

The motion asks that the court date be set back to August 12, 2013.

A June 3,2013, trial date would create a significant conflict for and cause hardship to the Kanakuk Defendants and the operation of Kanakuk Kamps. Kanakuk Kamps' primary camp season lasts from June until the first week of August. Kanakuk Kamps has few full-time employees and the majority of these full-time employees are directors or assistant directors of the various summer camps.

Many of these camp directors, including Joe White, are expected to be called as witnesses in this case. It would be almost impossible for Kanakuk to operate its summer camps without these directors present. A trial date of August 12,2013, would allow for Kanakuk to complete its summer camp operations as well as allow for Kanakuk employees to be available to testify at a trial if called.

The Kanakuk Defendants are aware that John Doe I (the sexual abuse victim of former Kanakuk Kamp director Pete Newman) is a high school student and that a summer trial setting is the most convenient time for him.

For that reason, the Kanakuk Defendants request that the Court order a definitive trial date instead of placing this case on the four week rolling docket. Setting the case for a preferential trial beginning August 12, 2013, should allow for the trial to be completed before John Doe I begins the school year and will also allow for Kanakuk and its employees to complete the 2013 summer camps without the interruption of a trial. Last, one of the counsel for Kanakuk Defendants' will be on vacation the second week of June 2013 and a four week rolling docket would force him to cancel that vacation.

The lawsuit was filed by the high school student's parents. The following information about it is taken from an earlier Turner Report post:

When their son was sent to the camp, the lawsuit said, Pete Newman, the camp director, sexually molested him, "appearing nude with an erection in a hot tub for Bible studies with (the boy) as Newman masturbated himself, he masturbated (the boy) and had the boy masturbate him."
The abuse also included games of naked truth or dare, and having the boy spend the night in Newman's living quarters, where he was sexually abused.

"At other times, Defendant Newman's inappropriate behavior and sexual abuse of (the boy) occurred in the presence of other Kanakuk Kamp personnel." The child was in the camp during the summers of 2005-2007. The lawsuit also names Kanakuk Ministries, Kanakuk Kamp, and every other name by which Kanakuk has been called as defendants.

"Newman used his position at Kanakuk Kamps as a means to abuse children such as John Doe I (as the boy is referred to throughout the petition) by developing the children's trust and friendship. This, coupled with Newman's mantle of authority as a dircctor of Kanakuk Kamps, allowed Newman to sexually abuse and molest multiple boys through masturbation, oral sex, and sodomy."

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW, it would not be convenient for Kanakuk and Joe White. However expecting the kid to return to school right after the trial is ok.

When are they going to start thinking about the kids?

And then their attorney may have to cancel his vacation. sounds like Kanakuk needs a new attorney. SERIOUSLY.

If they really cared about this kid, they would not do things that are going to create things harder for him.

ROSS, what are your thoughts? In your opinion does this show the arrogance of Kanakuk and lack of concern for the kid? He is the victim and he is going to need time to recover.

They are assuming that this case is not going to affect this kid nor his ability to function. That is pretty stupid.

Anonymous said...

So, the all-powerful Joe White can't make other plans with over 18 months notice?

Anonymous said...

I have tried, since the beginning of all this, to read every word with objectivity...trying my best to be fair to the Kanakuk leadership. But with every day, my trust has slipped. Every time I read something like this, it causes me to question WHO it is that they really are protecting...and it seems that the answer is THEMSELVES. I hope I am wrong. There are parents out there with documents in hand that Kanakuk would not want brought forth. Why will they not just own these mistakes that led to all this? It seems they just think that the folks out there with the "written proof" will just keep quiet forever.

Anonymous said...

Dear 6:15. Your feedback is so correct. To anyone with information that could help bring all of this to light please contact Linda Turley or Steven Shulte at the turley law firm. 1-800-692-4025. or 214-691-4025.

Unfortunatley this may be the only way to protect the kids in the future. The reality is time and time again Kanakuk shows priority to their business. Even at the risk of harming kids.

This last request to move the court date because it is more convenient for them is another example of how they could care less of the kid. they are worried about thier pocket book and vacations, while this kid has to worry about trying to go back to school and think about his future.

They could not even sacrafice one summer for the future of this boy.

Anonymous said...

I, for one, hold proof. And I am watching them to see if they will own any of this before I hand it over to attorneys. They need to be publicly honest if they want all these papers not to surface.

Anonymous said...

1:02. Up until now they are refusing to hand over certain documents, insist on everything be sealed and getting the truth will only come from exposising them. Please pray about your situation. Information that you refer to is what is needed to expose the truth.

And the grim reality is that unless brave individuals choose to take that step, they (Kanakuk and Joe White) will only be held accountable to what can be proved.

Sad but very true.

Do no expect any apologies from them, nor admitance about their part. Again, please consider contacting the attorneys so they can make sure it is brought to light, they are held accountable and give explanation to what you hold in your hand.

Your braveness will also help answer any questions and frustrations you have with them. If what you hold is insignificant, the courts will dismiss it, however if it is something that is significant the courts will make sure Joe accounts for it.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE those of you who have any information to help this boy and the others on that list and any in the future that will be ignored!! m Don't let the BIG money of Joe White stop you from helping the boys harmed. THANK YOU

Anonymous said...

has the court made a decision on Kanakuk's requested postponement?

Anonymous said...

not that has been reported. Nor has the second request to dismiss or change venue has been addressed.

Lauren Marie said...

Clearly, none of you have been to Kanakuk. The directors, including Joe White give selflessley of their time all summer. Hearing Joe White speak is the highlight of the term for any camper or counselor for that matter. Joe White cares about one thing: bringing kids to Jesus. His concern over the disruption of camp is not from selfish gain but a desire to help camp function properly and reach the monst kids possible. I agree that this kid deserves his day in court. But as an attorney, requesting a change of trial dates due to a work conflict is not uncommon. Parties on all sides of the trial do this and find a time that works best for everyone, sometimes even the judge.

Anonymous said...

One problem Lauren. Records also indicate that both sides agreed to the scheduling order which BOTH REQUESTED AND AGREED for the trial date to be set between june and july of 2013. 6 weeks after the judge approves the requests made by both parties, they file this request.

Looks like you are in law school and if any party wants the courts to take into consideration vactions or whatever, it has to be stipulated from the beginning. Entering this request months after they agreed to the date is issue. They cannot do that. That is law 101.

This goes back to the point that they do not think things through. This is not surprising. They fly by the seat of the pants and then want everyone to give them grace because they over looked something. When are they going to accept responsibility for their actions?

They had their opportunity, they passed and now they are crying. BOOHOO.

Futhermore they requested the court date to be set when this boys starts his SENIOR year in HIGH SCHOOL. Did they take that into consideration when they made this last request. the answer NOOOO. They say that thought of that which is even more insulting.

They know he has to start school and yet they do not care. Let him take on the biggest battle of his life, go through the trauma then start school immediatly.

The problem is they requested a date when school also starts.

So screw Joe White. Let him suffer like everyone else has had to.

Ross said...

While 3:46 is unnecessarily ad hominem against lauren, I think 3:46 is right that Kanakuk is wrong to delay. If kanakuk wanted to avoid a mid-summer trial, they should never have allowed a scheduling order to be entered in the first place, considering that they knew the camp would be operating in July of 2013. This isn't a new complication - they should have tried to get an August trial date back at the time of the scheduling conference.

Ross said...

Hey, Anonymous 1:02 - if you "hold proof" of some bad act of kanakuk (or even of Pete), I think it would be wise to give it to the lawyers for both sides, rather than talking about it on a forum. For justice to be done, everyone needs access to the evidence, and talking about it on this forum won't help anyone get justice for what was done.

Acting like you have an instrument of blackmail on an anonymous forum helps exactly nobody.

Caleb McCarthy said...

thank you Ross and lauren for defending not kanakuk but joe white. as a camper I relize that i have little say in the matter but I thought that a campers perspective would help a little.

I have been going to Kanakuk for four years and will admit that some of the faculty are worried about vacations and paychecks, but for the most part I've seen more good come out of Kanakuk than most other camps. So calling Kanakuk as a company 'fly by the seat of the pants' I'll agree that they do at times, and yes asking to move the court date so close to the school year after already setting one is unthoughtful, but Joe white by himself thinks highly of the campers and I'm sure that this entirely was a blow to him.

from a camper,
Caleb McCarthy

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine and I just watched Joe White at a conference last night. We thought he was a complete weirdo, that his presentation was contrived and manipulative, and we couldn't believe there were people around us crying over the silly drama--all in the name of the Lord. I went home and told my husband about him and his camp, and my husband's reaction was, "Sounds a little Sanduskyish." Then I googled and found all this story online. Interesting. Perhaps that is why we had to watch a video first of his family doing propaganda about how wonderful he is. This made no sense at a women's conference...Why any of us needed to see that to start with; how it related to anyone; why he was even speaking at a women's conference as a male; why a man had to build a cross and why men only could hold the cross and nail cards to it...being that this was a women's conference. Strange all the way around. This man looks like he could be in the movie "Bodyguard" as a fellow going after Whitney Houston. Scary. Don't know how this man has any authority or say at all...

Ryan said...

Due to the horrific nature of such an emotionally charged case dealing with something so offensive and disgusting, I can easily understand why many of the comments posted are quite irrational. Some have their origin in ignorance, some (understandable) anger, and I'm sure much of it is simply the parent inside you. However, I would like to share a few thoughts. First, I think its critical to separate parties. Peter Newman, Joe White, and Kanakuk are all separate entities. Despite the way the "justice" system works in the U.S., legal liability does not justify projecting the actions of Newman to be the epitome of Kanakuk's values. This is no different than hating "Muslims" because of what "they" did to the twin towers. I served as a counselor at K2, the camp that Joe directs (note that Joe is NOT the director at the camp Newman worked at) and I know how seriously and intentional the leadership was about clearly establishing (excessively strenuous) guidelines for physical interaction with campers during training to ensure we were above reproach of any kind. I personally know several of the directors and still have emails they sent me about how crushed/shocked they were when they received news of Newman's actions.

"When are they going to start caring about kids?" Trust me, NO ONE is at Kanakuk for the money (we calculated our earnings to about 4 cents/hr). I've been to Joe's house and it is no different than my own (my parents are teachers). They want camps to run during 2013 to serve and impact the lives of 10,000 youth that they serve each year. I've personally seen this impact. While my heart is crushed for the kid in this horrible case, the reality is that he has to face and process every day, he doesn't just deal with it every time a new blog/article comes out on the net. I think everyone might be reading a little more selfishness/greed into the situation than there really is. I have known Joe for many years, and all he cares about is kids and sharing the gospel. Money is not on his radar. Joe is very intelligent (smarter than me, and I will have a PhD soon). He was very successful as a pre-med student at a very good school (SMU). If he wanted to make money he would have gone to Med school with the rest of his classmates and been a doctor.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be angry about this, however, I think it would be appropriate to keep in mind that we don't have all the facts and that Joe, while liable to some degree is two steps removed from the injustice that occurred. Therefore, perhaps we should allow the attorneys to do their jobs and get to the bottom of the case in an organized court of law.

Anonymous said...

To Ryan
QUit babying Joe White. HE is a grown man. We should look at the children who have been abused by Pete Newman. Even more so to the tennager (John Doe who is suing Joe White) who is taking a stand against all of this and saying enough is enough. Joe White may have to deal with a "new blog/article comes out on the net" but this kid has to deal with the abuse by Pete Newman and Joe Whites knowledge of such events and the fact that White could have protected him stopping what happend, every single day! And he is only a teenager. he has been dealing with this for 1/3 of his life!

Joe White is very rich, has a big house, sorry...has two big houses, one with a basement and a full size trampoline on the inside.