Kanakuk Kamps Sued by Another Alleged Abuse Survivor
Plaintiff claims he was encouraged to keep quiet and that facts were concealed from him.
Kanakuk Kamps has been sued by another victim who claims he was abused by former camp director and now convicted felon Peter Newman.
Andrew Summersett, who lives in Denver, Colorado, filed suit in Taney County court in Missouri alleging fraud and fraudulent concealment, claiming Kanakuk and its leaders intentionally omitted critical information and made misrepresentations that prevented Summersett from pursuing his claim.
He says the defendants failed to disclose Newman’s known patterns of sexual abuse that were reported as early as 1999. Newman was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2009 and is currently serving two life sentences plus 30 years in prison.
Defendants include Kanakuk Kamps, based in Branson, Missouri, K-Kamps, KUKORP, Kanakuk CEO Joe White, Kanakuk Heritage, and ACE American Insurance Company. The lawsuit also names Jamie Jo (Braner) Johnson and Andrew Braner, former directors of Kanakuk Colorado based in La Plata County, Colorado, as defendants.
Summersett, now 37, claims he was abused by Newman in 2001 and 2002. He told the Braners about the abuse in 2009, asking if they knew anything about accusations of Newman’s sexual abuse of children. Jamie Jo Braner allegedly told him she did not know about them, while Andrew Braner warned Summersett against making “a mess of this,” and saying “now [was] not a good time to talk.” He also told Summersett to “back off, given the circumstances,” the court filings claim.
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“Due to Kanakuk, its leadership, and its insurance carrier actively concealing the scope and scale of Pete Newman’s sexual misconduct with children, Andrew Summersett and other victims and survivors were prevented from seeking full justice against the organization for the harm and suffering they endured,” said attorney Robert Thrasher in a press release.
“This lawsuit is giving them that opportunity now and a chance to hold the organization accountable,” Thrasher added.
Thrasher also represents Logan Yandell in a lawsuit he filed against Kanakuk in November 2022. Yandell, who in 2010 agreed to a settlement for an undisclosed amount and signed a nondisclosure agreement, now claims those were based on false and fraudulent representations by the Kanakuk defendants.
In May, Dallas police arrested former Kanakuk Kamp staffer Matthew Harmon for the sexual assault of a child in 2007 when he was a teacher and coach at the Providence School in Dallas.
According to “Facts about Kanakuk,” a forum for sharing concerns and stories of abuse that allegedly took place at Kanakuk Kamps, Harmon worked summer camps at Kanakuk in Durango, Colorado, and Kanakuk in Branson, Missouri, beginning in 1995 through the mid-2000s.
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