In November 2022, Logan Yandell filed a lawsuit against Kanakuk Camps, claiming his family was tricked into signing a settlement agreement after he was sexually abused by camp director Peter Newman. Yandell and his parents claim they agreed to the settlement because Kanakuk leaders told them that the camp had no previous knowledge of misconduct by Newman.
Kanakuk later filed a cross claim against ACE American Insurance Co., alleging that the company threatened to deny the camp coverage if information about Newman’s abuse was made public. ACE refuted the claim, alleging that its warning that coverage could be denied was not the same as repressing information.
Yandell is represented by LBK attorneys Guy D’Andrea, Michael McFarland, and Jill Roth, along with Phillip R. Martens, Robert Thrasher, and David Mayer of Monsees & Mayer in Kansas City, Mo.
Speaking with the Missouri Independent, he says the cross claim is an indication that the camp and insurance company acted in a “concerted effort to misrepresent information to victims,” emphasizing that “both parties act[ed] together to defraud the victims, despite their knowledge of Pete Newman’s abusive history.”
he adds, “It’s just incredibly unfortunate that a company as large as ACE and a camp which had responsibility for the safety of thousands and thousands of children over so many years just chose, in order to just try to save money and try to save their reputation, to lie to individuals and families who had been through something horrific. It’s abuse upon abuse.”
A jury trial for the case is scheduled for January 2025.
Read the full article: Missouri-based camp blames its insurance company for withholding info about sexual abuse
Read more about the Kanakuk case in Springfield News-Leader and Baptist News Global.
