"today's society"
It was no different then, than it is now. Except, back then, a child molester would rather be caught by the adults than any one of us. CMs were always around.
Frankly, folks, you could just as easily call the "youth protection" rules "adult protection". One adult can be left with more than one Scout, but not with just one Scout unless that Scout is his or her child (or there's a legal guardian relationship). That provides obvious protection for the Scouts, but it also gives the adult a witness in case the Scout makes a false accusation because he is angry that the Scouter refused to let him carry the 10" sheath knife his Dad gave him or backed up the Patrol Leader when the Scout tried to duck out on his turn to clean up the spaghetti pot last night.
Children often have no sense of proportion. They don't have an appreciation of the long-term effects of their actions and have no clue what a thoughtless accusation made in anger can have on an adult. This can be especially true of a child that has led a somewhat privileged and indulged life. I've had a few, and they get pretty unreasonable when they find themselves in an environment where there are actual rules that are enforced by punishment if you violate them; where "no" means "no" and no amount of wheedling will get around it.