The embattled Kanakuk Kamps in Branson, Missouri, has threatened to file a defamation lawsuit against popular podcaster Shawn Ryan for having a guest on who claimed that “thousands” of children were sexually abused in their global network of Christian sports camps. Ryan has refused to back down from the claim.
“We've made it clear. If they want to sue me, bring it on. We welcome discovery. We welcome depositions of Kanakuk leadership about what they knew, when they knew it, and what they did or didn't do to protect children,” said Ryan, who is CEO of media and production company Vigilance Elite, in a video statement Monday.
The former Navy SEAL and contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency revealed that lawyers for the Christian camp sent him a demand letter on Jan. 21, insisting that he remove and apologize for the claim made in an interview he conducted with U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., which first aired on Jan. 15 within 10 days or face legal action.
While the interview with Khanna centered on a discussion about the more than 6 million pages of documents, images and videos detailing the criminal activities of American financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, popularly known as the Epstein files, Ryan mentioned an earlier interview with Elizabeth Phillips about Kanakuk Kamps, which was broadcast on YouTube on Jan. 19.
“Are you familiar with this camp, Kanakuk?” Ryan asked Khanna, who said he wasn't familiar with it.
“It's the biggest Christian camp in the [expletive] world. And … I brought Elizabeth Phillips on, and she talks about how they've been molesting thousands of kids for years and putting them under NDA (non-disclosure agreements) after a settlement so that they can never … come out and talk about their sexual abuse at [expletive] Kamp Kanakuk,” Ryan said.
Phillips is the founder of the No More Victims Alliance. Her brother, Trey Carlock, died by suicide just before his 29th birthday in 2019 after signing an NDA to settle a child sex abuse claim against Kanakuk Kamps.
His abuser, former Kanakuk Kamps director Pete Newman, was found guilty of molesting at least 57 others while he was a counselor at Kanakuk Kamps. Newman was given two life sentences plus 30 years for abusing six boys at the Christian camp and was denied parole in October 2024. Joe White, president of Kanakuk Kamps, which has welcomed more than 450,000 campers since 1926, was also sued in 2015 for being aware of Newman’s abuse.
In June 2025, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 835 into law. The legislation, which is also known as "Trey's Law" and named after Carlock, prohibits the use of nondisclosure agreements in civil settlement agreements involving victims of child sex abuse and trafficking. The law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2025.
Kanakuk Kamps did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Christian Post on Wednesday, but their attorney, Bryan O. Wade, argued that Ryan's claim that “thousands” of children were abused at the camp is “outrageously malicious.”
“To suggest Kanakuk molested thousands of kids is not just false; it's outrageously malicious with no regard for the truth,” Wade wrote.
Ryan’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore of the Parlatore Law Group, pointed to multiple Tennessee laws and case law in a response to Wade to argue that the Christian camp doesn't have an actionable claim against the podcaster.
“Your client’s demand for retraction and apology is rejected. Mr. Ryan’s statement is substantially true, concerns a matter of urgent public concern, and is protected by the First Amendment and Tennessee law,” Parlatore wrote.
“Mr. Ryan stands by his reporting and will not retract or apologize. Should Kanakuk choose to file suit, we will defend vigorously and look forward to full discovery into the scope of abuse at Kanakuk, the institutional failures that enabled it, and the systematic use of confidentiality agreements to silence victims,” he added. “We are confident that such discovery will vindicate Mr. Ryan’s reporting and further expose the truth that Kanakuk seeks to suppress. Please govern yourself accordingly.”
