Posted on 09/17/2013 4:43:38 AM PDT by Joe Brower
Scathing allegations surface that Boy Scouts of America hid sex abuse
Parents, sons outraged, say they weren't notified
09/16/2013
By: Laura Harris
Stunning and disturbing revelations about the Boy Scouts of America on Monday morning.
According to a Tampa Bay area attorney as well as a former Boy Scout parent, the Boy Scouts of America have been keeping a long standing record of scout on scout sexual abuse, but have at no point shared that information in a way to educate other Boy Scouts, Boy Scout Troops or their communities.
The current lawsuit, set to go to trial in 2014, graphically details three different instances of sexual abuse by two different teen leaders in 2007 and 2009 with two different troops in the Southwest Florida Council arm of BSA, according to Sarasota attorney Damian Mallard.
"Had they disseminated the information we now know that they have, these boys could have been armed with the information, training and an idea of what to do if they were confronted with such a scenario," says Mallard.
Scenarios such as one involving a then 16-year-old boy holding another boy at knife point, forcing him to engage in oral sex. That boy pleaded guilty to lesser charges. He is currently serving a probationary sentence, without prison time. But it's instances like that one that one victim's father says, had he known about, his son probably would have never been assaulted.
"When you find out that there were files out there, there was no training, there was no anything to prevent something like this from happening," he says. That father wanted to remain anonymous as he says he doesn't want to subject his son to anymore pain.
The man's son was caught being sexually assaulted by a then 15-year-old troop leader. That boy pleaded guilty to lesser charges as well, but accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old boy soon after the Boy Scout incidents. He is now serving a sentence behind bars.
Those named in this current suit as plaintiffs say they simply want justice and want the Boy Scouts of America to answer to why they never made these documents public to parents' of those boys who considered the Boy Scout troops their safe places. In addition to financial compensation, they are asking for answers.
We reached out to the attorney representing the Boy Scouts of America in this particular suit, but have yet to receive any comment.
It’s too late to do anything about it now. Recent changes to BSA membership policy makes that perfectly acceptable behavior.
I show my scorn by sending them a check for two dollars. It costs them more than that to process the donation and deposit it.
Oh, that process is surely under way. Look at what happened to the Episcopal Church after the church decided to reject scriptural principals. They lost about 2/3rds of their entire youth membership in less than a decade. I think BSA will see similar, if not more severe loses. I’ve been a BSA leader for years. And the quiet conversations I’m hearing from very senior BSA leaders reflects what looks to me to be a massive loss of adult leadership in the coming months. Unlike churches, where families and individuals flock from a large surrounding area, many BSA troops are little hubs within communities.
My city has about half a dozen troops, with three or four very close by. Many of these troops are sustained by the efforts of one, two...maybe three active adult leaders. There are other adults involved. But most BSA troops really do function through the dedication and energy of one or two adults.
The loss of one or two scouts from each troop would be a painful thing. But losing one or two adult leaders could put many troops “out of business.” I think BSA has really “chit the bed” here. We’ll see how it goes. But I strongly suspect that in a few years BSA will be only a shadow of what it was just a few years ago.
IMO there was an conscious effort to destroy the Boy Scouts.
First there was insistence to include homosexual scouts and leaders. That went through. Now they attack the Scouts for having Homosexuals
I don’t know why the liberals want the Scouts destroyed, but they are determined to do it.
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