Roger Marshall’s campaign removed an image of children at Tall Oaks Camp and Conference Center from an attack ad after the camp objected. Neither the camp nor the children pictured had any connection to the allegations featured in the ad.
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We’re under a month until Election Day, and the attack ads in Kansas’ increasingly competitive U.S. Senate race are ratcheting up.Republican Sen. Roger Marshall this week released a television ad accusing his Democratic opponent, Adam Hamilton, of protecting a child sexual predator who volunteered at Hamilton’s Church of the Resurrection more than 20 years ago.Hamilton responded with two ads of his own, accusing Marshall of misrepresenting the church’s response to the allegations. One also accused Marshall of blocking the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.Marshall’s ad created another controversy. The Tall Oaks Camp and Conference Center in Linwood demanded that he remove photographs of its property and campers, which had nothing to do with the allegations. Marshall’s campaign removed the images, and the senator apologized.But what about the ads’ other claims? Let’s have a look.Marshall’s adClaim: A child predator was working at Hamilton’s church camp. Rating: TrueIn November 2005, two teenage boys attending a Church of the Resurrection youth retreat in Linn County reported that a man had entered their sleeping quarters at night and touched them inappropriately. They suspected Scott Preston Moore, a church volunteer. The boys reported their experiences to camp leaders, who were dismissive of their complaints, according to court records reviewed by The Star.Claim: Parents were ignored, and Hamilton never called the police. Rating: MisleadingChurch leaders conducted an internal investigation in 2005 but did not contact law enforcement or social services. The investigation was inconclusive because the boys could not positively identify Moore. Parents later testified that they were not informed of its outcome. Hamilton has acknowledged meeting with one boy’s family but said he could not recall the specifics of their conversation.In a Fox 4 interview this week, Hamilton acknowledged that the church should have gone to police first and said it changed its policy the following year to report such allegations to authorities before conducting an internal investigation.“We absolutely would have taken it to the police first (now),” Hamilton said.Claim: Hamilton welcomed Moore back the following fall, leaving him free to find more victims. Rating: MisleadingMoore did return as a cabin leader in 2006. He was again accused of entering campers’ rooms at night. The court records reviewed by The Star do not establish that he sexually assaulted anyone during that retreat. Church leaders subsequently contacted the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, reporting both the 2005 and 2006 incidents. The county prosecutor declined to pursue charges. Hamilton was the church’s lead pastor, but the available records do not establish that he personally decided to allow Moore to return.Claim: Moore was later convicted of child sex crimes. Rating: TrueMoore was convicted in 2013 of one misdemeanor count of sexual battery involving a 16-year-old boy at his Overland Park home in 2010. He received a one-year jail sentence. That conviction concerned an incident separate from the church retreats.Claim: Hamilton protected a pedophile. Rating: FalseThe record establishes that church officials failed to report the initial allegations to police and allowed Moore to return the next year. But it also establishes that the church eventually reported the allegations and barred Moore from working with children and vulnerable adults. Hamilton has denied attempting a cover-up. Nothing suggests he concealed Moore’s abuse to protect him.Hamilton’s responseClaim: The church reported the incidents to law enforcement and cut ties with Moore. Rating: Mostly trueThe church reported both years’ allegations to authorities in 2006 and provided materials from its internal investigation. But that came a year after the initial allegations, which church leaders investigated internally without contacting police. Following the 2006 incidents, the church also prohibited Moore from working with “children, youth and vulnerable adults,” according to court filings.Claim: Hamilton helped get Moore convicted. Rating: Mostly trueIn April 2010, a man told Hamilton that Moore had abused him as a child in 1979. Hamilton encouraged him to contact police, which he did. The following month, Moore sexually assaulted a 16-year-old boy in a separate incident. Moore was convicted of sexual battery in that case in 2013, with evidence from the earlier church retreats used at trial.Claim: Marshall had his own patients arrested over medical debt. Rating: Mostly trueA September investigation by The New York Times found that Marshall and his medical practice sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills. Patients were arrested in 81 of those cases after missing court appearances. The arrests were for failing to appear in court, not simply for owing money, but they resulted from litigation initiated by Marshall or his practice.Claim: Marshall blocked the release of the Epstein files. Rating: Partially trueIn 2025, Marshall voted with 50 other Republican senators to table an amendment that would have directed the Justice Department to release records related to Jeffrey Epstein. Marshall called the amendment a “political stunt,” accusing Democrats of holding military personnel hostage by attaching the Epstein disclosure requirement to an annual defense bill that included troop pay raises. Two months later, the Senate passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act by unanimous consent and President Donald Trump signed it into law that day. Hamilton’s ad omits that later development.
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David Hudnall is a columnist for The Star’s Opinion section. He is a Kansas City native and a graduate of the University of Missouri. He was previously the editor of The Pitch and Phoenix New Times.
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