Branson-based Kanakuk blames insurer for withholding information from sexual abuse victim
Kanakuk Kamps is suing its insurer for breach of contract, claiming that ACE American Insurance Company withheld information from sexual abuse victims and threatened to deny coverage to the Branson-based camp in the aftermath of the scandal.
The legal filing, which says ACE violated its fiduciary duty with a "bad-faith refusal" to defend Kanakuk, are part of a cross-claim action related to the 2022 fraud lawsuit filed against Kanakuk by victim Logan Yandell.
Yandell, who agreed to a financial settlement in 2010 after suffering sexual abuse at the hands of disgraced camp director Peter Newman, claims the settlement was based on Kanakuk's false representations.
Yandell and his parents have said they agreed to the settlement and nondisclosure agreement based on statements by Kanakuk and its leaders that they had no previous knowledge of misconduct by Newman, who was sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing multiple children.
Kanakuk, in its cross-claim, points the finger at its insurer, claiming ACE "orchestrated, directed, and assumed complete control over (Yandell's) negotiation and settlement."
In the filing, Kanakuk says it updated ACE as it learned of Newman's misconduct and that in 2010, the camp planned to send a mass email to 8,000 families of children who enrolled into its evangelical camps that year to inform them of Newman's abuse.
ACE ultimately halted those emails, according to the lawsuit.
Kanakuk said in its court filing that ACE told the camp such disclosures would "threaten to expose Kanakuk to greater liability and may interfere with ACE’s contractual right to defend claims and to have Kanakuk’s cooperation in that defense."
Yandell's November 2022 lawsuit filed in Taney County lists Kanakuk Ministries, Kanakuk Heritage and longtime Kanakuk president Joe White as its defendants, along with the insurance company. The filing came about a year after Yandell said he learned that Newman's supervisor had recommended Newman be fired in 2003 before he would go on to abuse Yandell between 2005 and 2008.
Kanakuk leaders have said repeatedly they were unaware of Newman's sexual conduct with campers prior to 2009, when the abuse was reported to law enforcement. However, as detailed in previous News-Leader coverage, camp leaders had been aware of Newman engaging in nude activities with campers and other inappropriate conduct since at least 1999.
More: Survivors, ex-employees say unreported abuse at Kanakuk camps in Branson spans decades
The lawsuit says that because of these substantial facts coming to light after Yandell's original settlement, Yandell is entitled to further damages due to Kanakuk's fraud.
Kanakuk's cross-claim attempts to shift the blame to ACE, which was recently given 30 days to respond to the camp's filing.
"If (Yandell) recovers a judgment against Kanakuk for the damages alleged in his Petition, Kanakuk’s liability will have been brought about and caused, in whole or in part, by ACE’s willful acts and omissions," according to Kanakuk's cross-claim.
A jury trial is scheduled for January 2025.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Cross-claim in Kanakuk lawsuit points finger at insurer
