KANSAS CITY — The Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District has affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a man against Kanakuk Heritage and Kanakuk Ministries, ruling that the claims were barred by the statute of limitations and failed as a matter of law.
The case also named longtime camp leader Joe White and Ace American Insurance Company.
The opinion, filed Feb. 3, leaves in place a summary judgment entered by the Christian Circuit Court.
Logan Yandell’s lawsuit stemmed from a settlement reached in December 2010, in which he resolved claims against the defendants related to sexual abuse he suffered as a camper at Kanakuk Kamp.
The abuse was committed by Peter Newman, a camp employee.
More than a decade later, on Nov. 17, 2022, Yandell filed a new suit alleging fraud and civil conspiracy, claiming the defendants concealed information at the time of the settlement that they knew Newman had also been sexually abusing other children at the camp.
The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing the claims were untimely and legally insufficient.
The circuit court agreed, finding the lawsuit was time-barred and that Yandell had not stated actionable claims for fraud or civil conspiracy.
Yandell appealed, raising nine points of alleged error, but the appellate court affirmed the dismissal.
In its analysis, the court focused on the statute of limitations applicable to fraud claims under Missouri law. Such claims must generally be brought within five years of accrual, which occurs when the alleged fraud is discovered or could have been discovered through reasonable diligence, but no later than ten years after the alleged conduct.
The court noted that Yandell asserted he did not discover the alleged fraud until December 2021, citing emotional and psychological impacts of the abuse, trust in camp leadership, and a lack of attention to media coverage of Newman’s prosecution.
The appellate court rejected that argument, concluding the undisputed record showed Yandell could have discovered the relevant facts years earlier through publicly available information.
The opinion detailed multiple newspaper articles published between 2009 and 2011 describing allegations that Kanakuk officials had been warned about Newman’s behavior toward boys well before Yandell’s abuse and that Newman had additional victims.
One article, published on the front page of the Taney County Times on Sept. 30, 2009, reported allegations that camp officials had been warned in 2006 about Newman’s conduct, including touching and unsupervised interactions with boys.
Other articles described criminal charges filed against Newman in September 2009, his eventual convictions and allegations that camp officials had known of inappropriate conduct dating back years earlier.
The court also noted that Yandell and his parents had some involvement in Newman’s prosecution, including providing victim-related statements, and that Joe White emailed Yandell’s parents in November 2009 to inform them of additional charges and provided a link to the state’s online case system to track developments.
Although Yandell’s family stated they did not follow media coverage or attend Newman’s sentencing, the court noted that the relevant information was publicly accessible and could have been discovered with reasonable diligence.
Based on these uncontroverted facts, the court concluded that any fraud claim accrued no later than 2011.
Even accounting forolling due to Yandell’s age at the time, the court found the statute of limitations expired by 2021, before the lawsuit was filed. Because the underlying fraud claim failed, the related civil conspiracy claim also could not stand.
Having resolved the appeal on the statute-of-limitations issue, the court declined to address Yandell’s remaining points of error and affirmed the circuit court’s judgment in full.
Missouri Court of Appeals for the Southern District case number: SD38892
