A Branson-area Christian summer camp accused of covering up years of sexual abuse of its students is suing its insurance company, claiming it threatened to deny coverage if information about the abuse became public.
Kanakuk Kamps filed a counterclaim against ACE American Insurance Co. last month as part of a lawsuit filed in 2022 by a former camper who says his family was tricked into signing a “fraudulent” settlement agreement after he was sexually abused by a camp director.
The insurance company “threatened to deny Kanakuk coverage” if the camp disclosed the abuse by former director Peter Newman to the families, Kanakuk’s lawyers argue in the counterclaim.
If former camper Logan Yandell “suffered damages as alleged,” Kanakuk’s counterclaim argues, “….such damages were caused by [ACE American Insurance Co.] and not by Kanakuk.
Yandell called Kanakuk’s argument “blame shifting”.
“Our lawsuit forced them to tell the truth, but instead of actually taking responsibility … they’re trying to shift the blame to their insurance company, as if an insurance company, I mean, held a gun to their head,” he said in an interview Monday. “An insurance company doesn’t make them do anything.”
The underlying case revolves around the abuse of Yandell, now 28, who has sued the camp – one of the largest Christian summer camps in the country – and its insurance company.
The case hinges on whether Kanakuk officials knew in advance that Newman was abusing campers.
Yandell was sexually abused by Newman from around 2005 to 2008. His family settled for a confidential amount in 2010 and signed a non-disclosure agreement after camp officials told the family they didn’t know about the abuse and considered it an isolated incident, according to the lawsuit.
But if the family had learned of the camp’s prior knowledge of Newman’s sexual misconduct, Yandell’s lawsuit says, they wouldn’t have agreed to it.
Newman, who Kanakuk describes on its website as a “master of deception”, pleaded guilty in 2010 to seven counts of sexual abuse and is serving two consecutive life sentences plus thirty years. The prosecutor in his case estimated that Newman’s victims could number in the hundreds.
Yandell’s lawsuit cites evidence that Kanakuk knew of Newman’s behaviour earlier: According to an affidavit from Newman’s former supervisor, Kanakuk management received reports of Newman engaging in nude activities with campers as early as 1999. Newman’s supervisor recommended he be fired in 2003 after receiving reports of Newman swimming and playing basketball with children while naked, but that decision was not taken up by CEO Joe White, according to the lawsuit. Newman stayed on for another six years.
In the latest cross-claim, Kanakuk argues that if they did have prior knowledge, the lack of disclosure was the fault of their insurer.
A cross-claim is a claim brought by one party against its counterparty – in this case, one of the defendants, Kanakuk, against another defendant, ACE Insurance.
According to the latest filing, in June 2010 Kanakuk “drafted two letters containing information about Newman’s activities” and planned to email them to “approximately 8,000 families of Kanakuk campers”.
But when Kanakuk sent the letters to the insurance company, ACE threatened to deny the camp coverage.
“Such disclosures threaten to expose Kanakuk to greater liability,” an ACE adjuster allegedly told Kanakuk in a letter that month, as quoted in the counterclaim, “and may interfere with ACE’s contractual right to defend claims and to have Kanakuk’s cooperation in that defence.”
“We strongly recommend that you do not send the proposed public disclosures regarding Mr Newman’s misconduct at the camp and Kanakuk’s response to that conduct,” the insurance adjuster continued, as quoted in the filing.
Neither ACE’s lawyer nor a representative of its parent company could be reached for comment.
Kanakuk said by email that they do not comment on litigation.
“In the meantime,” Kanakuk wrote, “we continue to pray for all who have been affected by Pete Newman’s behaviour.
Brian Kent, one of the lawyers representing Yandell, said the counterclaim supports the argument that the camp and the insurance company acted in a “concerted effort to misrepresent information to victims”.
“This was both parties acting together to defraud the victims, despite their knowledge of Pete Newman’s history of abuse,” Kent said.
“It’s just incredibly unfortunate that a company as large as ACE and a camp that was responsible for the safety of thousands and thousands of children over so many years,” Kent said, “simply chose to lie to individuals and families who had been through something horrific in order to try and save money and save their reputation.”
“It is abuse upon abuse,” Kent said.
He added that in Yandell’s case, camp CEO Joe White “flat out lied” to Yandell’s parents about whether management knew about Newman’s behaviour before Yandell was abused.
Kanakuk’s counterclaim is being litigated in the same lawsuit as Yandell’s, but as a separate claim. Discovery on Yandell’s claims is underway, Kent said. Trial is scheduled for January 2025.
