In this episode of the Shawn Ryan Show, Elizabeth Phillips discusses the history of systemic abuse at Kanakuk Ministries, a large evangelical summer camp organization. Phillips shares her personal connection to the case through her brother Trey, whose death by suicide followed an abuse settlement with the camp, and explains how the organization used NDAs and intimidation to prevent victims from speaking out.
The discussion examines the broader issues of summer camp safety regulations, including gaps in oversight and exemptions for faith-based organizations. Phillips details her work on "Trey's Law" and other legislative reforms to eliminate NDAs in abuse cases, extend statutes of limitations, and improve camp safety standards. The episode also explores how insurance companies' practices can enable abuse by encouraging victim silence through NDAs and maintaining inadequate child protection standards.

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Elizabeth Phillips and Shawn Ryan discuss the disturbing history of systemic abuse at Kanakuk Ministries, a massive evangelical camp organization operating since the 1920s. The camp, which generates $35-45 million annually and has served 500,000 alumni, became the site of widespread child sexual abuse under CEO Joe White's leadership.
Phillips shares the tragic story of her brother Trey, who died by suicide after settling an abuse case under a restrictive NDA. The psychological impact on survivors was severe, with many experiencing PTSD and other trauma responses. Kanakuk used NDAs and intimidation tactics to silence victims, though some families, like the Alarcons, refused to sign and maintained their right to speak out.
Phillips reveals alarming gaps in summer camp oversight, with many states lacking basic safety requirements like criminal background checks. Faith-based camps often receive exemptions from even minimal regulations. The American Camp Association's inability to implement effective child protection measures over its 115-year history highlights the industry's prioritization of profits over safety.
Motivated by her brother's death, Phillips championed "Trey's Law" in Texas and Missouri, successfully eliminating NDAs in sexual abuse cases and extending statutes of limitations. Working with survivors, lobbyists, and legislators, she expanded her advocacy efforts to multiple states. Through initiatives like the Campaign for Camp Safety and partnerships with advocates like Gretchen Carlson, Phillips continues to fight for accountability and reform.
Phillips explains how insurance companies often encourage the use of NDAs to avoid liability, effectively silencing abuse victims. She notes that insurance standards are too lax regarding child safeguarding, allowing negligent organizations to maintain coverage. Through initiatives like the Safe Childhoods Initiative, private sector involvement is emerging as a key factor in driving meaningful child protection reforms.
1-Page Summary
Elizabeth Phillips and Shawn Ryan shed light on the systemic abuse and cover-up at Kanakuk Ministries, a large-scale evangelical camp empire that has operated since the 1920s.
Kanakuk Ministries, having a history of child sexual abuse and cover-ups, is a mega evangelical camp based in southwest Missouri. Phillips talks about her own family's grooming during their time at Kanakuk and righteous anger towards the abuse within the camp.
The camp attracts children from all over the globe and has amassed 500,000 alumni and around 50,000 staff members. Phillips indicates that Kanakuk's scale is empire-like, with an annual revenue between $35 to $45 million.
Founded by C.L. Ford, Kanakuk Ministries saw Joe White become a pivotal figure, especially in the 1990s, when he served as both CEO and board chair, a position that enabled the abuse cover-ups within the organization. Phillips describes her family being specifically targeted due to their ability to host events and financial propensity to benefit the camp.
Joe White, after a reported incident, visited Phillips' family on his private plane, attempting to minimize the abuse by referring to it as "boys being boys." Despite Pete Newman's red flag-raising behavior, such as engaging in naked activities with campers, he was promoted within the organization, even to director of K-Country. Rick Brashler's "Canicuck Child Protection Plan" was implemented across youth organizations as a cover-up method similar to Kanakuk's handling of Newman.
Phillips founded No More Victims and set up the Facts About Kanakuk website, sharing deposition tapes from the John Doe 1 case to illuminate the historical abuse cover-ups at the hands of Joe White's administration. Financial entanglements between Kanakuk Ministries and the White family are discussed, with the former earning millions in revenue that were funneled through the Whites' for-profit holding companies that avoided taxes due to county relief.
Phillips highlights the response and handling of abuse cases by Joe White and Kanakuk Ministries, detailing how Joe White was dismissive of accusations and Joe White's complicity at the leadership level. Pete Newman, using Joe White's philosophy and theology, would integrate elements of spirituality to desensitize his victims. Despite disciplinary measures, such as signing a contract to avoid certain behaviors like spending too much time in hot tubs—a prevalent abuse setting for Newman—Kanakuk failed to effectively intervene.
When accused of continued inappropriate behavior, Newman completed a questionnaire aimed at avoiding allegations rather than addressing his misconduct. As early as 2003, Kanakuk Ministries had set boundaries for Newman, but actions taken by the organization point to an awareness without substantial corrective measures. Pete Newman was eventually sentenced to prison for multiple counts of child sexual abuse.
Furthermore, Phillips elaborates on the network of therapists tied to Kanakuk Ministries providing backchannel information used to conceal abuse cases. Similarly, victims faced surveillance and intimidati ...
The Systemic Abuse and Cover-Up at Kanakuk Ministries
The discussions center on the profound and long-lasting impact of abuse on survivors and their families, with particular emphasis on the tragic story of Elizabeth Phillips' brother Trey, who died by suicide after reaching a settlement that included a restrictive NDA.
Trey, a victim of abuse at Camp Kanakuk, struggled significantly until his death at age 28. He pursued civil litigation against Kanakuk after Pete Newman's criminal case was closed. Despite being named a victim, the litigation process was mentally damaging, leading to a psychotic break. The settlement included a restrictive NDA which silenced Trey, contributing to his feeling unseen and his eventual suicide. Trey's struggle was exacerbated by aggressive depositions by Kanakuk's lawyers. Four days before his death, Trey expressed to a therapist that he felt perpetually controlled and never free.
Although not explicitly mentioned in the discussion, the description of Trey's struggles implies that he suffered from severe psychological effects such as dissociative episodes. A therapist remarked that Trey's symptoms resembled those endured by survivors of extreme traumas, such as satanic ritualistic abuse or MK Ultra-like experiments. Elizabeth educated herself on serious trauma responses, equating Trey's symptoms with those of patients treated for severe trauma.
Kanakuk Ministries used non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims, a tactic that included offering favoritism to families, possibly to prevent them from speaking out. Joe White, associated with the camp, tried to influence the narrative and minimize the abuse. After the release of a podcast about the abuse, Elizabeth hopes attendance at the camp will decrease due to the danger to children. The Alarcon family, however, refused to sign the NDA and fought against their own lawyer to maintain their right to tell their story. ...
Impact of Abuse on Survivors and Families
The podcast reveals considerable discrepancies in how camps are regulated, highlighting the potential dangers that stem from a lax system that fails to adequately protect children.
Elizabeth Phillips reveals that the summer camp industry ironically suffers from a lack of sufficient oversight, despite the vulnerable audience it serves.
Elizabeth Phillips cites a deeply concerning situation where many states do not require basic safety measures such as criminal background checks for camp staff. Nine states do not require day camps to be licensed, and eight states do not require the same for residential camps. Philips refers to incidents where this regulatory oversight has had fatal outcomes, such as the preventable tragedy at Camp Mystic that led to the death of 27 girls. Elizabeth points out that only about 300 of over a thousand camps in Texas were licensed before the introduction of the Heavens 27 Camp Safety Act and the Youth Camper Act in reaction to past negligence.
The podcast highlights an additional aspect of the oversight issue: faith-based camps are often exempt from even the minimal licensing requirements that exist. Phillips expresses concern over the lower standards held for such camps, which she argues should operate to a higher ethical standard given their standing in the community. This lack of regulation is particularly evident in Missouri, where additional freedoms afforded to faith-based camps in the name of religious practice appear to allow them to avoid standard regulation and accountability.
Elizabeth draws attention to the case where Kanakuk Ministries transitioned to non-profit status and cites the hiring of Rick Brashler, a former Pizza Hut manager, as the director of risk management in 2003 as an indicator of potential previous liability issues. This is evidenced by the subsequent 4,000% increase in insurance coverage, which hints at a foreknowledge of potential claims.
The broader criticism is that the camp industry has prioritized profits over safety for more than a century. The American Camp Association's inability to implement effective child protection measures is called into question, given the association's 115-year history. Cases of abuse, including multiple suicides related ...
Regulatory and Oversight Gaps in Summer Camps
Elizabeth's passionate commitment towards enacting "Trey's Law" and reshaping the legislative framework to protect children from sexual abuse is a profound example of advocacy driving change.
Elizabeth Phillips, founder of No More Victims, successfully pushed for "Trey's Law" in Texas and Missouri. Moved by her brother's suicide after he settled under a restrictive NDA, Elizabeth championed the legislation initially passed in Texas in 2025. This law eliminated NDAs in sexual abuse cases and extended the statutes of limitations, allowing victims to take legal action into adulthood, beyond the age of 26.
Partnering with survivors and leveraging her extensive network, Elizabeth rallied lobbyists, like Mark, a former firefighter with a track record in Missouri legislative success in mental health for first responders, to propel "Trey's Law" into enactment.
In Texas, with allies like Representative Jeff Leach, whose wife is an abuse survivor, and Senator Angela Paxton, connected through a former student under an NDA, the law became the most comprehensive NDA reform in the country. Representative Mitch Little crafted the bill's language, resolving constitutional issues and creating a loophole voiding NDAs post-September 1st, 2025, unless legally ordered otherwise.
Elizabeth's law became a reality in Missouri by working closely with bill sponsors, tailoring the legislation to address minor victims of child sexual abuse and trafficking, effective from August 28th, 2025.
In addition to Texas and Missouri, Elizabeth pursued legislative efforts in various other states and at the federal level. She engaged with representatives in Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Ted Cruz's team, advocating for broader adoption of reforms mirrored in Trey's Law.
Beyond her work for Trey's Law, Elizabeth collaborated with individuals and organizations to extend her impact. She connected with Gretchen Carlson, who led similar NDA workplace reform, and gained media coverage and credibility from advocates such as Nancy French, a ghostwriter and clergy abuse survivor, and David at The New York Times.
Elizabeth spoke at numerous hearings to share her story and the pain suffered by survivors. Through tangible actions, such as setting up a protest website against Pete Newman's parole and initiating the Campaign for Camp Safety, she pushed for greater public awareness and reform.
Facing staunch opposition from organizations like Kanakuk, which spent heavily on lobbying a ...
Elizabeth's Legislative Advocacy and Reform Efforts
The dialogue touches on the troubling practices by insurance companies and the private sector that facilitate the silencing of abuse victims and prevent meaningful reforms aimed at child protection.
Elizabeth Phillips mentions that it’s common practice for insurance firms to urge organizations to use Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to mitigate liability from abuse cases, which effectively silences victims. This practice was implicated in a discussion about civil conspiracy, where an insurance company was added to the complaint, suggesting collusion with Kanakuk Ministries to cover up abuse. Shawn Ryan responds by implying that these NDAs were indeed employed to skew the narrative and silent those harmed.
Phillips points out that insurance companies play a role in the continued issue of abuse within institutions by setting a precedent of dropping coverage under certain circumstances rather than addressing the core problem. She indicates that institutions are guided by what insurance will cover for abuse claims, leading indirectly to the continuation of abusive practices. She strongly suggests that insurance companies could require organizations to have expert-based child safety practices as a condition for coverage, which is not the current standard.
Elizabeth Phillips highlights the importance of private investment through initiatives like the Safe Childhoods Initiative, a collaborative effort involvin ...
Insurance Companies & Private Sector Enabling Abuse
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