A hearing was held last Monday for a Christian County, Mo., judge to hear summary judgment arguments from attorneys in the Logan Yandell v. Kanakuk lawsuit.
Yandell is suing Kanakuk Kamps and relevant entities — including ACE American Insurance Co. — for fraud relating to a prior settlement his parents made on his behalf after discovering he was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of former camp counselor Pete Newman. The lawsuit argues camp executives and insurance adjusters intentionally concealed pertinent information about their knowledge of Newman’s serial abuse against campers to induce settlements with survivors and their families.
Logan Yandell today
Defense attorneys noted information pertaining to Newman’s abuse of other boys was publicly available and accessible after his confession in 2009 via public media coverage. They argue this access to knowledge would have been available to the Yandell family and could have been discovered with “reasonable diligence.”
Yandell’s attorneys argue, however, that neither Yandell (who was still a minor at the time of Newman’s confession) nor his parents had a “duty to exercise reasonable diligence to discover such information.”
In their arguments, attorneys cite depositions from Yandell’s parents, who recall direct conversations with Joe White, Kanakuk CEO, in which he told them Newman’s tendency to abuse children “was never on our radar.” Seeing that White was an executive of the camp — an institution with the mission of protecting kids — and a close family friend of the Yandells, the couple did not see a reason to investigate the matter any further and did not follow news coverage of Newman’s trial.
The couple also shared in depositions that at the time, they were focused on helping Yandell through the intense effects of trauma and PTSD resulting fromn his experiences of abuse. Seeing no reason to distrust White, the family chose to accept a settlement, signed a nondisclosure agreement and focused on the well-being of their family.
Yandell alleges he did not become aware of the extent of Newman’s abuse until he was an adult in 2021. Attorneys also note Logan Yandell is the only plaintiff in this case. His parents are not.
If the judge accepts this as the year of discovery, the lawsuit is within the statute of limitations.
A decision is anticipated by the end of this year. Another hearing is scheduled in early 2025, and the case is set for trial this coming July.
Related articles:
Yandell v. Kanakuk lawsuit amended to include civil conspiracy claims
Motions to dismiss conspiracy charges in Yandell v. Kanakuk denied
Kanakuk sex abuser Pete Newman denied parole