A lawsuit filed in Taney County, Missouri, Tuesday afternoon identifies Doe as the first female victim of the serial child abuser Pete Newman, who was employed by Kanakuk through the 1990s and 2000s and was promoted to director of the camp K-Kountry, where Doe attended in 2008, despite camp leaders having knowledge of Newman’s improper relationships with minors. The petition claims Doe was nine years old when Newman “used his position to gain [Doe’s] trust and isolate her away from other campers” before sexually abusing Doe repeatedly.
According to the filing, Newman “inappropriately touched” Doe on multiple occasions and forced her to perform oral sex on him. The lawsuit claims Newman told Doe, who is described as being “scared” and “homesick” at the time she was at camp, that if she failed to perform the sexual acts or told anyone about what was happening, “she would not get to go home.”
The lawsuit holds the camp and Joe T. White — Kanakuk’s CEO and board chair and a former Southern Methodist University football player — responsible for the abuse because Newman’s behavior with children had been repeatedly flagged as problematic by camp staff and parents in the years leading up to Doe’s time at camp. Newman, who has at least 50 known John Doe victims, was imprisoned for child sexual abuse in 2010 and is serving two life terms plus 30 years for his crimes against children.
“As a result of the authority Kanakuk Defendants vested in Newman to act as youth pastor of Kanakuk, [Doe] was conditioned to trust Newman, to comply with his directions, and to respect him as a person of authority, including in religious, moral and ethical matters,” the petition states. “Defendants placed [Doe] in this situation despite having known, or having should have known, that Newman was a continuing danger to children.”
The lawsuit states Doe had repressed the memories of Newman’s molestations until late 2024. Since recalling the memories, Doe has undergone extensive therapy and mental health care treatment, representing attorneys said. Doe’s lawsuit is the third Newman abuse-related case filed against Camp Kanakuk in the last year.
“Immediately upon arrival at camp, I felt homesick, vulnerable and afraid. Pete Newman took advantage of that, and I endured unspeakable things,” Doe said in a statement shared with the media. “Now that I’ve found my voice, I am speaking out for my 9-year-old self and others who have been harmed by the negligence of Kanakuk.”
Dallas’ Ties to Camp Kanakuk
Camp Kanakuk comprises five campuses that run Christian-inspired programs of varying lengths for campers of all ages. Though the camp is based in Missouri, it is popular with families from the Dallas area. As such, Dallas has also been a hotbed for misconduct-related allegations leveled against the camp. Last year, police issued a warrant for Matthew Harmon, a Dallas man who was involved in Camp Kanakuk and other Kanakuk-related ministries, for one count of sexual assault of a child. While Harmon’s charge was related to inappropriate behaviors with a student he met while working at the Providence Christian School of Texas, Harmon’s ex-wife told investigators Harmon had previously admitted to kissing a Kanakuk camper.
According to a report by the Springfield News-Ledger, the Dallas Police Department investigated Kanakuk counselor Paul Green in 1994 after a camper revealed Green had molested him during the Thanksgiving holiday, which Green spent in Dallas visiting the victim’s family. Police were preparing to arrest Green when he was killed in a car accident, the report states.
Earlier this month, the Texas House unanimously passed a bill that would outlaw the use of non-disclosure agreements in child sexual abuse cases. The bill, known as “Trey’s Law,” is named for Dallas native Trey Carlock, who died by suicide in 2019 after going through a civil litigation process that ended in an NDA with Kanakuk Ministries. According to his sister, Elizabeth Carlock Phillips, Trey was a victim of Pete Newman and considered the settlement he received from the camp “blood money.”
The bill needs to be passed by the Texas Senate before it can be signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. “Trey’s Law” is also making its way through the Missouri legislature.
“We applaud this brave woman for coming forward publicly to hold Kanakuk accountable for Newman’s crimes against her and countless other boys and girls,” Phillips said in a statement following the Doe lawsuit filing. “Her story will help so many others to finally feel seen, heard and believed.”
