A Resignation Letter That Said Nothing.
On April 30, 2026, Joe White announced his retirement as CEO and chairman of the board of Kanakuk Kamps, effective August 31. White, 77, cited health — leukemia diagnosed in 2000, and 35 surgeries since — as his reason for stepping down. “It is time to pass the baton to the next very capable generation,” he wrote in a letter to camp families.
The letter did not mention child sexual abuse. It did not mention Pete Newman, the Kanakuk director convicted in 2010 of sexually abusing boys at the camp and sentenced to two life terms plus 30 years. It did not mention the dozens of civil lawsuits that have named Kanakuk and White as defendants. It did not mention Trey Carlock, whose death by suicide — and whose NDA-enforced silence — helped produce Missouri’s Trey’s Law. It did not mention the survivors still waiting for accountability.
Elizabeth Carlock Phillips, whose brother Trey was abused at Kanakuk, put it plainly:
“This isn’t retirement; it’s a cop out. I fear parents and camp families may now say ‘there’s been a leadership transition, so everything is fine now.’ No — Kanakuk is not safe and there has not been any real change, accountability or justice for victims.”
— Elizabeth Carlock Phillips, founder of Trey’s Law
That concern is not abstract. The public record on what Kanakuk leadership knew — and when — is extensive. White’s own deposition testimony established that he was aware of Newman’s conduct with minors years before Newman’s 2009 arrest. In a signed statement, White acknowledged knowing of naked sessions in hot tubs, mutual masturbation, and nude running through camp grounds involving children. Newman’s conduct at the camp spanned his entire tenure there, from 1995 to 2009. Prosecutors have said the number of victims may reach into the hundreds.
Kanakuk’s position has been consistent: once leaders learned of criminal conduct, they reported it, and the organization has since implemented reforms. Critics — including survivors and their attorneys who have spent years in civil litigation — respond that awareness of misconduct preceded the report to authorities by years, and that reforms adopted after a conviction do not constitute accountability for what was permitted before one.
White’s departure does not resolve those questions. A leadership transition is not an investigation. A retirement announcement is not an admission. And a letter to camp families that omits the defining chapter of an institution’s recent history is not transparency — it is the same instinct that produced the NDAs in the first place: manage the narrative, protect the brand, and hope the families don’t ask too many questions.
Parents sending children to Kanakuk this summer should ask those questions. What has structurally changed? Who is accountable for the years of documented failures? What happens to survivors still bound by existing settlement agreements?
Missouri’s Trey’s Law, effective August 28, 2025, voids NDAs in childhood sexual abuse cases going forward. The law exists in part because of what happened at Kanakuk. It does not resolve the past. But it means that any survivor silenced by a future settlement in Missouri now has a legal argument that their silence was never enforceable.
If you or someone you know was harmed at Kanakuk or a similar institution, our firm represents survivors throughout Missouri and beyond. We work quietly, strategically, and with the interests of our clients — not institutions — as our guide.
Representing Survivors of Institutional Abuse
McGonagle Johnson represents survivors of sexual and physical abuse in Missouri and across the country, including survivors of institutional abuse at religious boarding schools and camps. Partner Jarrett Johnson has represented numerous survivors and has served as Chair of the Missouri Bar’s Criminal Law Committee. Consultations are confidential.
