The following is an evolving roster of former Kanakuk staff and associates who have been formally alleged or convicted of sexual abuse of minors since the White family assumed leadership of the camp. Click here for a timeline of known abusers.
Some of the listed perpetrators were disciplined or terminated for “inappropriate behavior” with children at Kanakuk but not reported to law enforcement; therefore, they were caught later abusing children at other organizations. Kanakuk has stated that they do not have a practice or procedure to alert Kanakuk families and attendees of former staff members who are later found to be convicted abusers. We have received reports identifying nearly 50 perpetrators by name, but this list contains only those formally alleged in media or convicted in courts.
The average age of victims who finally report childhood sexual abuse is about 52 years old. Only 23% to 33% of victims disclose their sexual abuse during childhood, and only 6% to 15% of victims ever disclose those assaults to law enforcement. Males are more reluctant and take longer to make full disclosures. The extent of damage done to campers who attended Kanakuk Kamps and its programs will likely not be known for many years. Click here for a fact sheet on child sexual abuse.
If you were abused at Kanakuk Kamps or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

Lee Bradberry
Bradberry was a Kanakuk Kamps counselor in the summer of 2011 after the camp had implemented and promoted its Kanakuk Child Protection Plan. Arrested the following year for sexual abuse of young boys, he was sentenced in 2013 to four years for sexual misconduct involving a child under 14, seven years for statutory sodomy, and two 10-year sentences for child molestation, to be served concurrently. He was released on parole and now runs Spratlin Design Company, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama.
If you were abused by Lee Bradberry or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

Peter Daniel Newman
Newman was hired as a Kanakuk counselor in 1995. He moved up through the ranks as a father-son retreat leader, assistant director and ultimately the director of K-Kountry. Frequently used by the organization for marketing and promotional purposes, Newman was arrested in 2009 and pled guilty to two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy, three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, and three counts of enticement of a child. A prosecutor in the case stated that Newman “is the most prolific child molester I have ever dealt with.” In 2010, Newman received two life sentences plus 30 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The subject of multiple civil lawsuits, there were at least 57 alleged victims of Newman prior to his sentencing, but the total number of campers abused by him remains unknown.
If you were abused by Peter “Pete” Newman or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

Matthew Jonas Overstreet
Overstreet worked as a counselor at Kanakuk Kamp’s K-2 in the summers of 2004 and 2005. He was arrested in March of 2010 after pleading guilty to a charge of sexual assault of a child whom he met in 2007 while working as youth group intern at a church in Plano, TX. Overstreet worked in youth ministry at three churches in Texas between his employment at Kanakuk Kamps in 2005 and his arrest in 2010. It is unknown if he engaged in sexual misconduct while at Kanakuk Kamps.

Robert John Morgan
A pilot for the private plane used by Joe White, Morgan was charged with sodomizing a female victim under the age of 14 in 2000. White invited him to stay on Kanakuk grounds while awaiting trial. White later testified for Morgan’s defense as a character witness, stating that he would have no problem allowing the man to babysit his own children and encouraging the judge not to imprison him. It is unknown if Morgan abused any campers during his multiple years of affiliation with Kanakuk and his off-season residence on camp property.
Morgan was found guilty of statutory sodomy in 2009 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was released in 2019.
If you were abused by Robert John Morgan or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

Robert Shiflet
Robert Shiflet was convicted in 2021 of crimes related to child sex trafficking and sentenced to 33 months in prison for multiple incidents that took place between 1996 and 2003. Shiflet was released from prison early for good behavior on January 11, 2023, after serving only 25 months. Shiflet was an employee of Kanakuk Kamps during the summers of 1993 and 1994. He was later awarded contract work by Kanakuk through his company Tailfish for web design and launched a new web site for Kanakuk Institute in 2010. Shiflet was still working for Kanakuk via Tailfish as recently as 2017. Kanakuk Institute president and K-7 director Keith Chancey previously worked with Shiflet at Denton Bible Church in North Texas. Chancey led high school youth ministry when Shiflet was the youth leader for junior high until 2001. It is unknown if Shiflet engaged in sexual misconduct while at Kanakuk.
If you were abused by Robert Shiflet or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

Paul Kerr
A staff member at Kanakuk Kamps from 1998 to 2005, Kerr was arrested in Colorado in 2011 for the abuse of adolescent girls. After pleading guilty to multiple charges, he received 45 days in jail and 10 years of sex offender probation. In 2014, Kerr returned to prison after he was found guilty of failing to register as a sex offender. A former K-Kountry camper has alleged that in 2002, Kerr exposed himself to boys in his cabin and exhibited grooming behavior at Kanakuk. Pete Newman was K-Kountry assistant director at the time.
If you were abused by Paul Kerr or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

Paul Green

Ed Ringheim
Ringheim was a counselor for K-1 and volunteered with the K-Life Orlando program. He was accused of criminal misconduct that occurred in 2008 and 2011. He regularly chaperoned bus trips to Kanakuk’s Missouri camps and other activities. He was ultimately charged with seven felony sex crimes against underage boys. He was arrested in 2011, was found guilty of seven felony sex charges involving underage boys, and was sentenced to 15 years in Florida state prison. He is expected to be released in 2031.
If you were abused by Ed Ringheim or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

Chuck Price
Price is a former Kanakuk Kamps counselor who, according to a May 2022 Springfield News-Leader article, is alleged to have sexually abused multiple campers while working at Kanakuk Kamps in the 1980s. It is reported that Price’s Kanakuk employment was terminated in 1990 after abuse was reported to Kanakuk leadership and Price admitted to having touched campers inappropriately. Because Kanakuk Kamps did not report victim testimony nor Price’s confession to law enforcement, Price has continued to work with children in other school, sports, and ministry environments, including Kanakuk’s own affiliate, Urban KLIFE St. Louis. He was also photographed back on Kanakuk property with Joe White in 2017. “Price, who has worked with at least three schools and is a girls volleyball coach in St. Louis, continued to volunteer with the Kanakuk-affiliated KLIFE youth ministry until at least February 2022.”
If you were abused by Chuck Price or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

Corbie Dale Grimes
Grimes worked at Kanakuk Kamps from 1978-1989. In addition to working as a counselor, Grimes held various leadership positions including assistant program director, head of trips and head of counselors-in-training. He was referred to as “Creepy Corbie” and eventually terminated after being caught for sexual misconduct with campers, but the incidents were not reported by the camp to law enforcement. As a result, Grimes went on to work in youth ministry, was caught abusing children as a youth pastor at another institution, and was finally convicted of sexual abuse in Texas in 2002.
If you were abused by Corbie Dale Grimes or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.

William French Anderson
William French Anderson allegedly abused Kanakuk boys in the late 1950s/60s era when the camp was under the leadership of Spike and Darnell White. According to his victims, when the incidents were reported to camp leadership, they were dismissed. He went on to abuse beyond Kanakuk and was finally sentenced in 2007 to 14 years in prison after being convicted of molesting a young girl. The trial made headlines, as he had become a famous scientist known as “the father of gene therapy.”
If you were abused by Dr. William French Anderson or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.
We have received additional allegations of celebrities Bill Cosby, a convicted sex offender, and contemporary Christian music artist Chris Rice, reported to have sexually abused children, accessing Kids Across America (KAA) and Kanakuk children in past decades.
Derrick “Duke” Hampsch is the brother of current Kanakuk executive Chad Hampsch and was convicted of child sexual abuse of minor girls during his years as a youth pastor, now serving a 20-year sentence.
If you were abused by anyone affiliated with Kanakuk, or have more information, please submit a Contact Form.