The lawsuit brought by former camper Logan Yandell against Kanakuk Kamps in Branson, Missouri, has been dismissed.
Kanakuk Kamps CEO Joe White / Video screenshot from January 2016
Missouri Judge Raymond Gross granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment because he said the claims were time-barred and because Yandell could not “establish actionable fraud or civil conspiracy against these defendants.”
The judge dismissed all of Yandell’s claims for relief.
Yandell is a Kanakuk camp sexual abuse survivor who filed a lawsuit against the camp in 2022. He was sexually abused by former Kanakuk employee Peter Newman, who is currently serving two life prison sentences plus 30 years for his abuse convictions.
Yandell reached a settlement agreement with Kanakuk in 2010, but he claimed in the lawsuit that the settlement was based on false and fraudulent representations by the Kanakuk defendants.
The lawsuit also claimed that Kanakuk represented to Yandell and his parents that “Newman committed isolated incidents of sexual misconduct” and that Kanakuk “had no prior knowledge of any sexual misconduct committed by Newman” when an investigative report revealed the camp knew about concerning activities as early as 1999.
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In his order, Gross wrote that Yandell didn’t have the right to rely on what may have been misrepresentations by Kanakuk CEO Joe White because Newman’s misdeeds were widely publicized before Yandell finalized the settlement agreement in December 2010.
“The Yandells had ready and easy access to contradictory information about Pete Newman’s misconduct and Kankuk’s knowledge thereof prior to reaching a settlement in late 2010,” Gross wrote.
A fraud claim must be brought within five years of the date it occurred. In this lawsuit, Yandell argued that he didn’t learn about the fraud until the investigative report was released in 2021.
The judge did not agree with this argument, writing, “Between the public sentencing, the media coverage, and the civil claims being brought on behalf of other young victims, [Yandell] had the means to discover the alleged fraud before November 2017 (five years before this action was filed).”
The judge dismissed the conspiracy claims because they could not survive without the underlying fraud claim.
Yandell also sued Kanakuk’s insurer, ACE American Insurance Company, seeking to hold it liable under an agency relationship. Gross determined there was no evidence of ACE vesting White with any authority to speak on its behalf nor vice versa.
“With all due respect to the Court, we disagree with the findings,” Yandell’s attorneys told MinistryWatch in an emailed statement. “There has been no dispute that Logan was abused, that Joe White lied to his parents, inducing the settlement they agreed to, or that ACE insurance sent the letter threatening to deny coverage if Kanakuk told the truth to thousands of families. We intend to seek appropriate relief through the court of appeals and continue fighting on Logan’s behalf.”
“Judge Gross’ opinion is extremely disappointing given the evidence,” Elizabeth Carlock Phillips, sister of the late Trey Carlock and victim advocate for Kanakuk survivors, told MinistryWatch.
“I anticipate Logan’s case will proceed in court with an appeal, and I continue to believe and stand with him and his family,” Phillips added. “Kanakuk’s actions cost my brother his life and stole his voice, so I will not rest until everyone responsible for the cover up of abuse, fraud, and silencing of survivors is brought to justice.”
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