914. Kanakuk Kamps

Kanakuk Kamps is religious influenced summer camp located in Montana. It was founded in 1926.

Recently there have been some focus on sexual abuse of the young people attending the summer camp. In 2010 a former camp director was put in prison. Other articles claim that the management of the camp tried to prevent victims to state their stories publicly.

Many people today question when the management knew of the abuse and how they tried to handle it and whether they alerted the authorities in time.

It could not have been fun to be there as one of the unknown number of victims.

Sources:

• Kanakuk Kamps Abuse Reexamined In New Report (Christianity Today)
• Kanakuk: An Evangelical Empire With a History of Sexual Abuse (Facts about Kanakuk)
• I-Team: Victims Gather To Speak Out About Sexual Abuse At Popular Christian Camp (11/21 CBS DFW)
• Kanakuk Kamps Tried to Punish a Victim’s Family for Refusing to Sign a Non-Disparagement Agreement (The Dispatch)
• ‘They Aren’t Who You Think They Are’ (The Dispatch)
• Lawsuit Says Kanakuk Knew of Abuser’s Behavior At Least 6 Years Before Finally Firing Him (Ministry Watch)

725. Catholic Diocese of Lincoln

The Catholic Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska has been around for a long time. They operate youth camps. Maybe they should stop doing that after a number of incidents have reach the media. Several young people seem to have experience improper behavior by elder staff members and attendees surrounding the Diocese.

It could not have been fun to be there as a child being exposed to such behavior.

Sources:

• Nebraska Catholic Diocese Hit by Sexual-Abuse, Misconduct Allegations (The Epoch times)
• Wave of sexual abuse accusations hits Lincoln diocese (The Life Site)

608. Camp Running Deer

Summer camp sounds as fun for some, but Camp Running Deer in Kentucky the fun turned ugly when the camp manager managed to be alone with some of the boys. For his actions he got 45 years in prison.

However he could have been stopped long before as he was investigated in connection with the 1979 Wyler Military School scandal. Only the death of another employee at the military school saved him from a well-deserved stay in prison. Because of the decision to drop charges against him back then, more boys became victims of his actions.

It could not have been fun to be there as a summer camp guest if you ended up alone with the camp manager.

Sources:

• Wisconsin Fumbled `79 Sex-abuse Case (Chicago Tribune)
• Camp operator gets 45 yrs. in sex abuse (New Technologies 77 blog)
• Camp Owner Facing New Sex-abuse Charges (Chicago Tribune)

375. LMPD’s Gentleman’s Academy

LMPD’s Gentleman’s Academy is a six-week summer camp operated from Louisville in Kentucky. The targetgroup is male teenagers aged between 12 and 17.

In 2014 two Gentleman’s Academy employees are suing Louisville Metro Police and UofL after blowing the whistle on alleged abuse.

Erica Buckner and Alexis Keen said they were punished after they tried to expose alleged abuse at the summer program for young men. Kill the messengers seems to be the answer in this organization.

It is safe to state that it cannot be fun to be there as a teenager if those who are supposed to look after you are punished if they try to protect you.

Sources:

• Police program abused children, suit alleges (The Courier-Journal)
• Gentleman’s Academy employees suing after alleged abuse (Wave3 news)
• New lawsuit filed involving Gentlemen’s Academy (WHAS 11 news)