Branson-based Kanakuk Kamps and its associated ministries are a multimillion-dollar global enterprise that includes the largest evangelical sports summer camp in the world. Since 1926, Kanakuk has hosted more than 500,000 campers and 50,000 staffers in Missouri and its many international locations. The camp developed its Child Protection Plan in 2009, after one of its directors was arrested and charged with abusing children he’d met at camp and through related ministries. Ever since Pete Newman pleaded guilty to sexually abusing six boys, Kanakuk has touted itself as a leader in child safety, holding seminars across the nation. But...

The assistant director of Chaparral Baptist Assembly Camp in Iowa Park has been jailed on charges of Indecency with a Child through Sexual Contact. Nathan Lee McDonald was arrested Wednesday by Wichita County Sheriff’s deputies.

- The Boy Scouts of America has mortgaged one of the most spectacular properties it owns, the vast Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, to help secure a line of credit as the financially strapped organization faces a growing wave of new sex-abuse lawsuits. The BSA said Friday that it has no plans to sell the property, and that the land is being used as collateral to help meet financial needs that include rising insurance costs related to sex-abuse litigation. However, the move dismayed a member of Philmont’s oversight committee, who says it violates agreements made when the...

The lawsuit alleges Mike Kessler, who is now deceased, ran a troop in Abilene, Texas and abused and molested the 13-year-old scout for several years. It also alleges Kessler attempted to have sex with the boy during a 1982 trip to Camp Dale Resler near Cloudcroft.

Photos Provided By A Member Of The Victim Support Community Who Asked Not To Be Publicly Identified.

Kanakuk Kamps alleges its insurance company discouraged camp leadership from disclosing information about sex abuser to families 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 abuse were made public. Kanakuk Kamps filed a cross claim last month against ACE American Insurance Co. as part of a 2022 lawsuit filed 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...

- Evan Hoffpauir and Keith Dygert grew up in Branson, Missouri. - Both say they were sexually abused for years by former Kanakuk camp counselor Peter Newman. - Growing public awareness of controversy linked to Kanakuk camp began early last year.

Jason L. Endress, 44, was arrested July 25, 2023 and had a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023 in Ogle County court, where he is charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department received a call June 23 from Emily Cross, chief operating officer of the Blackhawk Area Council, who said the organization’s hotline received a call with the allegations, Lt. Brian Ketter testified. Ketter said the boy, who is now 25, told him he and Endress “touched each other” while in the chapel at Camp Lowden. According to court documents,...

A documentary made by VICE News about the alleged sexual abuse cases at Kanakuk camps in southwest Missouri won a 2022 Emmy award for “Outstanding Hard News Feature Story: Long Form.” The 17-minute film, “A Christian Summer Camp’s History of Abuse,” features interviews with survivors and gives details about litigation and settlements that have occurred.