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Author Topic: Boy Scouts of America Failed to Report & Helped Cover Up Child Sex Abuse  (Read 37749 times)
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« on: September 17, 2012, 10:28:54 PM »

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-boy-scouts-files-20120916,0,6937684.story
Boy Scouts helped alleged molesters cover tracks, files show
September 16, 2012

When volunteers and employees were suspected of sexually abusing children, Boy Scout officials often didn't tell police, files from 1970-91 reveal. In many cases they sought to hide the situation.


Assistant troop leader William Lazzareschi was expelled from the Scouts after he admitted engaging in a sex act with a boy, according to one file. But nothing in the file indicates the Scouts called police. (Rhode Island Parole Board & Sex Offender / September 16, 2012)

Over two decades, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.

A Los Angeles Times review of 1,600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found that Scouting officials frequently urged admitted offenders to quietly resign — and helped many cover their tracks.

Volunteers and employees suspected of abuse were allowed to leave citing bogus reasons such as business demands, "chronic brain dysfunction" and duties at a Shakespeare festival.
More...

http://documents.latimes.com/boy-scouts-paper-trail-of-abuse-documents/
A paper trail of abuse

Since at least 1919, the Boy Scouts of Amer­ica has main­tained “in­eli­gible vo­lun­teer” files in­ten­ded to keep sexu­al ab­users, among oth­ers, out of its ranks. The re­cords have been closely held by the Scouts, which con­tends that con­fid­en­ti­al­ity is es­sen­tial to pro­tect vic­tims, wit­nesses and any­one falsely ac­cused.

The Times re­viewed about 1,600 of the files dat­ing from 1970 to 1991. In hun­dreds of cases, sexu­al ab­use was not re­por­ted to law en­force­ment, and Scout of­fi­cials at times act­ively hid it from par­ents and the pub­lic. In at least 50 cases, the Boy Scouts ex­pelled men for al­leged sexu­al ab­use, only to dis­cov­er later that they had reentered the Scouts and were again ac­cused of mo­lest­ing.

Here are files from some of those cases. The Times has re­dac­ted vic­tims’ names and oth­er identi­fy­ing in­form­a­tion. Some files in­clude ex­pli­cit ac­counts of sexu­al ab­use.
(see at link)
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« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2012, 08:30:03 AM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1209/17/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Boy Scouts Covering up for Abusers?

Aired September 17, 2012 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: JVM starts now.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: It`s happened again: a child sex abuse scandal rocks another famous American institution. This time it`s the Boy Scouts of America. Did the leaders know men were sexually abusing young innocent Boy Scouts? Didn`t anyone call the police? We`re taking your calls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, shocking secrets exposed. Allegations of a massive sexual molestation cover-up in one of America`s most popular kids` organizations: the Boy Scouts of America. Did top leaders cover up for alleged child molesters, letting them leave quietly instead of calling police? Are there so-called secret perversion files? What every parent needs to know tonight. And we`re taking your calls on this.

 ::snipping2::

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Boy Scouts of America is accused of covering up hundreds of cases of suspected abuse against kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of these scout leaders were allegedly molesting these children on camp trips.

What`s clear is that, in many of these cases, the Boy Scouts, instead of informing authorities, decided to keep this information to themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "The Los Angeles Times" got ahold of more than 1,000 confidential files known by scout leaders as, quote, "the perversion files."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the 500 cases where the Boy Scouts were the first to become aware of allegations of sexual abuse, 80 percent of those cases contained no indication that they were reported to authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Boy Scouts continued to keep these perversion files. They are detailed accounts of sexual abuse in the organization. But they`re confidential, and only the Boy Scouts has them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, horrifying secret that stopped us dead in our tracks: claims that one of the oldest kids` organizations in the United States engaged in a molestation cover-up that, if true, is so big it would make the Jerry Sandusky case pale by comparison. He`s one man convicted of molesting ten boys, which is awful enough.

Well, tonight "The L.A. Times" claims, quote, "The Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police," end quote.

The newspaper, in this stunning report, says it got ahold of more than 1,000 confidential files covering two decades to 1991. And that they found that scouting officials often urged admitted molesters to resign and helped many of them cover their tracks.

"The Los Angeles Times" reports scouting officials often did not tell the police or even the parents of the alleged victims. "The L.A. Times" claims the Boy Scouts maintained so-called "perversion files," which the paper described as a blacklist of alleged molesters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perversion files is what the scouts have called these documents. The effort was to keep a master list of men who should not be allowed to be involved in scouting. These have been kept confidentially by the organization for almost 100 years now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: "The L.A. Times" says it uncovered 400 cases with no record of scouting officials reporting allegations to police. And 100 cases where scouting officials tried to conceal or allowed the suspects to hide the abuse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of the files contain handwritten accounts by the young 10-year-old boys who were sexually abused. The Boy Scouts were attempting to put together a complete file so that they could expel these men from scouting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are talking case after case after case after case of scout leaders allegedly molesting young boys, like this man -- take a look -- who was expelled from the scouts after the paper says he admitted to engaging in a sex act with the boy. But nothing in the file indicates the scouting organization called the police.


We know the scouts have made big changes in their organization to prevent this from happening again. But the paper says it was only two years ago that the Boy Scouts began requiring members to call cops when they suspect abuse.

If they really want to clear it all up, why don`t they reveal these so-called perversion files and tell the whole world what was really going on inside the Boy Scouts of America?

I want to hear from you. Parents especially, call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to investigative reporter and HLN contributor Jon Lieberman. Jon, what`s the biggest bombshell to come out of this truly shocking "L.A. Times" report?

JON LIEBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I`ll tell you, Jane, when you look over the document, they literally making you nauseous. And the bombshell is this. It`s how wide-ranging the alleged abuse was. It was how active the cover-up was. It`s the details of the abuse that we`re now learning. That is really the bombshell.

Let me give you just a couple of examples. 1976, five Boy Scouts come forward and accuse a scout leader of rape and other sexual crimes. That guy is simply allowed to resign and his reason given, the official reason in the file, was he had to travel more for work. And then he was written a glowing letter from a top executive about how much he will be missed and how upset they were to get his resignation.

You know, another one was in 1980...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jon...

LIEBERMAN: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I got the other one. But you made your point. There are so many. And I don`t know about you, but I literally -- my jaw was dropping as I`m reading things that we cannot tell you on the air, they are that graphic. We cannot repeat some of these allegations involving not one but numerous boys.

Here`s one case. You mentioned one. Here`s another. "The L.A. Times" says a Virginia scouting official got reports back in 1978 claiming that a highly, highly decorated scout leader, Arthur Humphries, had been repeatedly forcing a Boy Scout into oral sex. Now, what did the Boy Scout official do? Listen to what "L.A. Times" reporter Jason Felch claims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JASON FELCH, "L.A. TIMES" REPORTER (via phone): Those allegations were not taken to police and Mr. Humphries was not expelled from the scouts. It was only in 1984, several years later, that police caught Mr. Humphries, and he eventually pled guilty to sodomized -- sodomizing 20 boys and was sentenced to 151 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The convicted molester, Arthur Humphries, has since died. But "The L.A. Times" says six long years before his arrest, a 12- year-old boy gave a sworn statement outlining repeated molestation by this man. Having heard that Boy Scout, Holly Hughes, criminal defense attorney, what should have been done at that time?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, again, Jane, what we see is a major institution protecting their reputation over the welfare of children. He should have immediately been taken back to his parents, his parents informed of the allegations that were made and the matter reported to the police so that they could take the little boy in for a physical examination. Evidence could have been preserved. Statements could have been taken.

But once again, the big institution, worrying about their reputation, covers it up and allows other children to then be victimized, because this offender is still on the loose and still has access to children, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s the Boy Scouts` response to "The L.A. Times." Quote, we regret there have been times when,, despite the BSA`s best efforts to protect children, scouts were abused. And for that, we are very sorry," end quote.

Now, in the 1980s, the scouts required two adults to be present for activities. Now they require background checks on all staff and volunteers, as well; offer child abuse prevention training; and they require all suspected child abuse to be reported to police. But "The L.A. Times" says that mandatory reporting rule just went into effect two years ago.

By the way, we invited the Boy Scouts to bring a spokesperson on tonight, and they declined.

I want to go to Norwood Young. You are a survivor of sexual abuse, not involved in the scouts, but they say you were raped and molested between the age of 17, your teenage years, by a male relative. You said you were rape and molested by a male relative.

NORWOOD YOUNG, SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVOR: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: When the response is such as being described in these "L.A. Times" claims, how does that impact emotionally the victims?

YOUNG: It`s a terrible thing, Jane, because, again, the abusers are allowed to be protected. You know? And in this situation, since 1919, I tend to believe that it`s a conspiracy theory.

But I tend to believe that it might be a boys` club -- you know, not Boy Scouts but scouting for boys, indeed. And it hurts really badly that these young boys are going through these things repeatedly and not being protected. You know, you have adult counselors and you have volunteers. And why would they not go to the police? I believe that these volunteers and these counselors know something and have something on the Boy Scouts as to why they`re not prosecuting them. It`s just making absolutely no sense.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And, again, we invited the Boy Scouts on, and they are welcome on any time. We want to be fair. We want to hear their side. But it`s our obligation to report these very serious allegations reported in "The Los Angeles Times," a reputable news organization.

Let`s go out to the phone lines. Mary in Wisconsin, your question or thought, Mary?

CALLER: Hi, this baffles me so bad that they won`t let gay men and boys in there. And guess who gets raped? They get raped by heterosexual men. This is so baffling to me. It makes me sick.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you`re referring to the fact that there was a lesbian mother who was volunteering as a den leader for her 7-year-old boy`s Boy Scouts troop, and she has been forced out by the Boy Scouts of America. We`re going to get to that story in a little bit.

And on the other side, a lawyer who represents 30 former Boy Scouts is going to talk to us. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FELCH: One of the things we saw repeatedly was men whose sexual abuse was covered up by the Boy Scouts of America went on later to be accused of different crimes involving sexual abuse of boys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: "The L.A. Times" says this is such a shocker. I mean, this is rocking the Boy Scouts of America, these allegations. They say the records they`ve obtained show instances when the scouts took action internally but they failed to call cops.

"The L.A. Times" claims, for example, in 1971, this assistant troupe leader, William Lazzareschi was caught engaging in a sex act with a 12- year-old boy at a Rhode Island scout camp. He was expelled from the scouts. But "The L.A. Times" says no report was ever made to police or the boy`s parents.

"The Times" says it wasn`t until a quarter of a century later that this man was ultimately convicted of sexual assault in 1997. And just seven years ago, he was convicted of child porn possession, but he`s no longer in prison. Oh, my gosh!

Theo Fleury, former NHL player, Stanley Cup champ, Canadian Olympic gold medalist, you were sexually abused, you say, by your coach. So it`s not the scouts. However, how big is this? You`ve heard the facts. You`ve been listening. How big is this, compared to, let`s say, the Sandusky case or the -- a priest scandal?

THEO FLEURY, WAS SEXUALLY ABUSED BY HOCKEY COACH (via phone): Well, I think the last time I was on your show, Jane, I said who`s next? So, you know, I will say it again. You know, which big organization is next, you know?

This is the biggest pandemic we have in the world. And, you know, I`m not surprised at all. I`m not shocked by the allegations. You know, to me, this is par for the course.

But the other side of the coin here is that we`re seeing a lot more people finding the courage to come forward and, you know, put these people behind bars.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, to your point, I want to go to Tim Kosnoff, former deputy prosecutor and trial attorney. And you say, sir, that you currently represent a whole lot of former Boy Scouts who claim they`ve been molested. Tell us the numbers. We`re trying to get a sense of the scope of this scandal.

TOM KOSNOFF, ATTORNEY FOR VICTIMS: Well, I`ve been representing child-sex-abuse survivors since 1996. And I came across these files in 2003. And I`m thankful that "The Los Angeles Times" took the files that I gave them and have issued this excellent report. I`ve been living with them and analyzing them for ten years. And I`m very knowledgeable about them.

What they reveal is that the program began in 1916. There were probably over 20,000 perversion files. They purged the vast majority of them in the early `70s. What have survived are approximately 6,500 of the files. They open them up on average once every other day and have for the last 100 years.

If you consider that the average molester abuses over 100 children over the course of a lifetime, the numbers become astronomical, the number of victims, both within scouting, because these molesters move to different youth organizations. The number of suffering adult survivors of child sexual abuse in scouting is probably somewhere in the hundreds of thousands. A hundred and thirteen million boys have come into contact with the Boy Scouts of America.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to go. Stand by, sir. And interesting, very interesting information. I mean, the scope of it is mind-boggling.

Let`s go out to Michael in Oregon. You say, Michael, you`re a scout leader. Are you just finding out about this now? Did you know about it? What`s your reaction to it?

CALLER: Well, I`m disgusted, Jane. And thank you for taking my call.

And what -- the point I need to make is there are some fine groups out there that are chartered with the Boy Scout organization. You need to take a look at how the Boy Scout organization is organized. You have the national. Then you have the individual councils. And then you have the little groups that charter as, say, a franchise. They buy a franchise into the Boy Scouts of America.

And most -- the plurality of franchises, from -- you know, from what I understand and from what I`ve read and what I know about the Boy Scouts, are churches. And the two No. 1 churches that have chartered with the Boy Scouts are the LDS and the Catholic churches. Both of them have a culture of covering up things within their own church.

And if you were to take a look at all these perversion files and take a look at the chartered organization, I would bet you that more than 50 percent of them are through those two top churches which have a culture of covering up abuse.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sir, you`re making some excellent points. Hang on. We`re going to get to a quick break. And then on the other side, I`m going to go back to the attorney who represents 30 former Boy Scouts and ask him, where are these cases?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Sandusky sex-abuse scandal set the entire Penn State campus into an uproar. I mean, we all remember the high-profile trial ended with Jerry Sandusky being convicted of more than 40 counts of abuse. The campus was, well, in an uproar.

But as that case unfolded more and more young men came out of the woodwork. Angela Williams, sex abuse survivor, founder of Voice Today, thank you for your patience. Could this be the tip of the iceberg with the Boy Scouts of America scandal?

ANGELA WILLIAMS, SEX ABUSE SURVIVOR: Absolutely it`s the tip of the iceberg. And the courage to speak out, this is just paving the way.

We have 42 million reported survivors in the U.S., and only one in ten survivors will ever tell. So we really have to look at this epidemic and what we`re going to do about it. I mean, every person in America should be outraged at the behavior of the Boy Scouts of America.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Tim Kosnoff, we`re short on time. Tell me flat-out, how many former Boy Scouts do you represent and what are you doing with those lawsuits?

KOSNOFF: We represent currently about 50. The problem is -- is that in most states, victims don`t have a remedy because of the statute of limitations that bar them from bringing lawsuits.

In Washington state, we`re able to bring these cases, because our law is favorable and friendly to survivors.

So if we have changes in the laws in the various states, victims will have a forum to come forward and identify their abusers. And in that way, they will make their communities safer, because they will identify their abusers.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to go back to Norwood Young. What do you think the Boy Scouts of America should do now?

YOUNG: Actually, Jane, I actually think it needs to be shut down. I think it needs to be shut down. It needs to be re-evaluated. It needs to be reorganized. It needs -- it just needs to stop. This is crazy. And no outing should happen with children without a chaperone these days, period.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, they have made a lot of changes to the organization. And we outlined many of them. They are invited on our show any time. We want to get all sides to this very shocking story.
 ::snipping2::

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« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2012, 09:07:13 AM »

http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2012/09/18/bsa-fails-to-live-up-to-own-ideals/
The Boy Scouts of America fail to live up to their own Oath and Law
September 18, 2012


Comments

5 Comments
 Tom, September 18, 2012 at 9:04 am :

    So the Boy Scouts aren’t perfect – therefore you deprive your son the possibility of an All-American experience.? What are YOU afraid of?

    Samuel Smith, September 18, 2012 at 9:51 am :

    Tom: I can’t speak for Brian, but if it were my son, I’d be afraid he’d be raped by a Scout leader who had been doing it to other boys with the knowledge and cover of the BSA for decades.

    Unless you mean that being raped by a Scout leader IS an all-American experience.

    Otherwise, September 18, 2012 at 10:05 am :

    Tom

    It’s hard to know, but let’s assume you’re a good guy who loves the Scouts and doesn’t rape children. However, you have to realize that fishermen fish where the fish are. Pederasts are naturally attracted to organizations that attract children and place them in vulnerable situations, like camping trips. Of course pedophiles are drawn to the BSA. If the BSA refuses to systematically root them out, then only a fool would send their child there.

    The problem is not that there were pedophiles in the Catholic Church, BSA, and Penn State locker room. The problem is that those organizations deliberately chose not to purge them, which allowed them to continue their predation elsewhere. How in the world is failure to act bravely part of the All American experience?

   Brian Angliss, September 18, 2012 at 11:12 am :

    Really, Tom – you read 1100 words detailing how the Boy Scouts of America are failing to live up to their own ideals – and not just by a inch, but a mile – and the best response you have is that implying that I’m afraid my son will get molested?

    In any organization as large as the Boy Scouts of America, there will be some sickos. Given the Scouts involve children, as Otherwise pointed out the sickos will tend to be child molesters. That’s basic psychology and elementary math. But he could get kidnapped on the way to the bus, attacked by a teacher, or hit by a car while riding his bicycle. I’m not so afraid of those things that I keep him home all the time or follow him everywhere he goes, so no, I’m not afraid of the Boy Scouts.

    I’m sure that the majority of BSA members are decent people. But the BSA itself is not acting according to it’s own Oath and Law, as I pointed out – repeatedly – above. Furthermore, it’s not acting in accordance with the values of the United States as detailed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. As such, the Boy Scouts of America in opposition to, not in accordance with, your so-called “All-American” experience.

    At this point I’m better emulating the values of the Boy Scouts by not letting my son join than the Boy Scouts of America are themselves.

    wufnik, September 18, 2012 at 1:23 pm :

    It’s clear that no one bothers to actually read The Boy Scout Handbook anymore. Pity.
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« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2012, 09:11:19 AM »

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-pa-boy-scout-sex-files-20120918,0,6028194.story
Boy Scout files show Pa. abuse not reported
Hundreds of cases are described in secret records.

September 19, 2012

After a Boy Scout accused a Scout leader of making sexual advances while they were alone at a campground in 1979, Scout officials in Pittsburgh allowed the leader to resign and never contacted authorities.

A decade later, the head of the Boy Scouts in Philadelphia concluded he had no duty to contact authorities regarding sex-abuse allegations against a scoutmaster there because the alleged victim was not a Scout.

Those cases and hundreds more from Pennsylvania are among those described in secret files kept by the Boy Scouts of America between 1970 and 1991 and made public as evidence in a California sex-abuse lawsuit against the youth group.

Next month, a set of records from 1965 to 1985 are set to be released following an order by the Oregon Supreme Court in a similar case against the Boy Scouts of America that resulted in a $20 million verdict.

The Boy Scouts' so-called "perversion files" were a blacklist used to track individuals who had been barred from Scouting. In the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia cases, the list appears to have prevented the accused leaders from rejoining the Boy Scouts.

A review of more than 1,600 files by the Los Angeles Times shows that in many cases, Scout leaders who were blacklisted were allowed to rejoin the organization and were again accused of abuse. In most of the cases, the Scouts learned of the abuse after it had already been reported to authorities.

But in about 500 cases, Scout officials learned about allegations of abuse from parents, staff members or the boys themselves. In the majority of those cases, the Times investigation found, there is no record Scout officials reported the claimed abuse to authorities. In more than 100 cases, Scout officials actively worked to conceal the allegations.
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« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2012, 03:48:48 PM »

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57514808/boy-scouts-defend-procedures-to-protect-youth/
Boy Scouts defend procedures to protect youth
September 18, 2012

(CBS News) The head of the Boy Scouts of America has published an open letter to parents defending his organization's procedures aimed at protecting youth from child predators.

The letter comes in the wake of a Los Angeles Times report published Sunday that said the Scouts failed to report hundreds of suspected child sex abusers to authorities, and often helped cover up the accusations over two decades.

The paper said a review of 1,600 of the organization's confidential "perversion" files dating from 1970 to 1991 revealed that leaders often helped suspected molesters push the allegations under the rug.

The newspaper also found that in about 400 cases, there was no record of the Scouts reporting cases to police after parents, boys and staff members notified Scout leaders.
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« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2012, 10:34:56 PM »

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57517060-504083/ten-years-after-revelations-of-massive-sex-abuse-cover-ups-many-victims-never-get-their-day-in-court/
Ten years after revelations of massive sex abuse cover-ups, many victims never get their day in court
September 21, 2012

(CBS) NEW YORK - The recent revelations that the Boy Scouts of America have spent years covering up sexual abuse reports against their scout leaders came as no surprise to Professor Marci Hamilton.

"Boy Scouts
, the Catholic church, the Citadel, Penn State, the Mormon church - it's all the identical problem," says Hamilton, a professor at Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University and the author of "God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law."

"They'll ignore wrong-doing and bad behavior because it's in the best interest of the institution not to have bad publicity."
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« Last Edit: September 21, 2012, 10:37:37 PM by MuffyBee » Logged

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« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2012, 09:51:25 AM »

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/01/boy-scouts-to-notify-police-departments-suspected-pedophiles/
Boy Scouts to notify police departments of suspected pedophiles
October 1, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. –  The Boy Scouts of America plan to begin doing what critics argue they should have done decades ago — bring suspected abusers named in the organization's so-called perversion files to the attention of police departments and sheriff's offices across the country.

The Scouts have, until now, argued they did all they could to prevent sex abuse within their ranks by spending a century tracking pedophiles and using those records to keep known sex offenders out of their organization. But a court-ordered release of the perversion files from 1965 to 1985, expected sometime in October, has prompted Scouts spokesman Deron Smith to say the organization will go back into the files and report any offenders who may have fallen through the cracks.

Smith said Mike Johnson, the group's youth protection director and a former police detective, will lead the review.

That could prompt a new round of criminal prosecutions for offenders who have so far escaped justice, said Clatsop County, Ore., District Attorney Josh Marquis. But investigations may require more than what most Scout files provide, including victims willing to cooperate.

"Let's even assume the suspect confessed," he said. "An uncorroborated confession is not sufficient for a conviction."

Many states have no statutes of limitations for children victimized when they were younger than 16, so even decades-old crimes could be fair game.
 ::snipping2::
A lawsuit culminated in April 2010 with the jury ruling the BSA had failed to protect the plaintiff from a pedophile assistant Scoutmaster in the 1980s, even though that man had previously admitted molesting Scouts. The jury awarded $20 million to the plaintiff.

Files kept before 1971 remained secret, until a judge ruled — and the Oregon Supreme Court agreed — that they should be released. Attorneys are now redacting the addresses and other identifying material from the files, which stretch from 1965 to 1985.

The release means that alleged abusers, and the names of Scout leaders who failed to report them, will be made public soon in tens of thousands of pages of confidential documents __ one of the largest troves of the files the BSA has ever been forced to produce. A psychiatrist who reviewed the files, Dr. Jennifer Warren, found that police were involved in about two-thirds of the cases from 1965-1985.

Kelly Clark, a Portland attorney who won a landmark 2010 lawsuit against the Boy Scouts, says the documents show that even though the Scouts have been collecting the files nearly since the Boy Scouts' founding in 1910, the organization failed to use them to protect boys from pedophiles.

"What's significant is that the Boy Scouts could have these files for so long and not learn from them," Clark said.

 ::snipping2::
Warren compared the rate of victimization in the Scouts — about 1.4 to 2.1 youth per 100,000 — to the nationally-reported incidence of child abuse by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which found that in 1980, 70 per 100,000 children experience sexual exploitation each year.

Warren's analysis didn't account for the fact that files were destroyed for offenders who died or turned 75 years old, something she said didn't affect her overall conclusions.

Critics contend the organization's legal battles reflect a long-standing effort to protect the Boy Scouts' reputation, and to try to limit any lawsuits.

"It's a culture of denial and concealment," said Timothy Kosnoff, a Seattle attorney who in 2006 obtained documents on 5,200 alleged pedophiles who went into the files from 1949-2005.



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« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2012, 04:04:39 PM »

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/justice/boys-scouts-sex-abuse-report/index.html
Attorneys release confidential Boy Scouts files on alleged child sex abusers
October 18, 2012

(CNN) -- More than 20,000 confidential Boy Scout documents were released Thursday identifying more than 1,000 leaders and volunteers banned from the group after being accused of sexual or inappropriate conduct with boys.
The public release of the Scouts' 1,247 "ineligible volunteer files" from 1965 to 1985 does not identify the boy victims and witnesses. The national files are being distributed with the approval of the Oregon Supreme Court by a law firm that won an $18.5 million judgment in 2010 against the Boy Scouts in a case where a Scoutmaster sexually abused a boy.
Wayne Perry, president of Boy Scouts of America, said the group is deeply committed to youth protection, but he acknowledged that in some cases, the organization's responses to allegations of abuse by volunteers "were plainly insufficient, inappropriate or wrong."
 ::snipping2::
Video at Link
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« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2012, 04:19:51 PM »

 

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/perversion-files-show-locals-helped-cover-up-for-boy-scouts-1.4129399
'Perversion files' show locals helped cover up for Boy Scouts
October 18, 2012

Local Boy Scout leaders, police officials, prosecutors and mayors helped hush up numerous child sex abuse allegations against scoutmasters and other volunteers, according to details in a trove of nearly 15,000 pages of so-called "perversion files" compiled by the Scouts from 1959 to the mid-1980s.
Portland attorney Kelly Clark released the files on Thursday.
The Associated Press obtained copies of the files weeks in advance and conducted an extensive review of them.
The files document allegations of sex abuse by Scouting volunteers across the country. The Scouts have been collecting the documents since the early 1900s, and continue to do so.
At the news conference, Clark blasted the Boy Scouts for their continuing legal battles to try to keep the full trove of files secret.
"You do not keep secrets hidden about dangers to children," said Clark, who in 2010 won a landmark lawsuit against the Boy Scouts on behalf of a plaintiff who was molested by an assistant scoutmaster in the 1980s.
Clark's colleague, Paul Mones, said the files in the Portland case represent "the pain and anguish of thousands of Scouts" who were abused by Scout leaders.
The two attorneys were releasing all 14,500 documents used in the Portland case at their website: kellyclarkattorney.com .
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2012, 10:43:29 PM »

Lawyers Release Secret Child Abuse Files; Call For Congress Audit
Posted on: 4:53 pm, October 18, 2012, by Jessica Bates
 ::snipping2::
CNN) — Attorneys releasing confidential Boy Scouts files on alleged child molestation are calling upon Congress to audit whether the group’s youth protections are working.
 
The effort to seek a congressional inquiry came Thursday as the attorneys released more than 20,000 Boy Scout documents identifying more than 1,000 leaders and volunteers banned from the group after being accused of sexual or inappropriate conduct with boys.
 
Child abuse prevention groups will be asked to join a national push for the congressional audit, according to the lawyers, who won a child sex abuse lawsuit against the Scouts in Oregon and are now suing the group in Texas.
 
The Boy Scouts were founded by congressional charter in 1910, and the leadership could not be immediately reached for comment on the proposal.
more
http://fox8.com/2012/10/18/boy-scouts-release-secret-child-abuse-files/

CW-I've merged the thread you started in News of the Day "Lawyers Release Secret Child Abuse Files; Call For Congress Audit"  with the thread I had started previously in "Crimes Against Children, Elderly and Disabled".
« Last Edit: October 19, 2012, 12:51:00 AM by MuffyBee » Logged

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« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2012, 10:47:06 PM »

PDFs listed by,date state city perp name

Boy Scout Ineligible Volunteer Files (Perversion Files) (1965 – 1985)
http://www.kellyclarkattorney.com/files/?sort=lasts&dir=asc&page=2
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« Reply #11 on: October 19, 2012, 12:56:26 AM »

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/18-central-texas-residents-named-in-boy-scouts-per/nShCb/
Central Texas residents named in Boy Scouts’ ‘perversion files’
October 18, 2012

The names of 18 current or former Central Texas residents have surfaced in what the Boy Scouts of America titled its “perversion files,” which were made public Thursday and which detail the organization’s efforts over several decades to keep sexual abusers and other individuals out of their ranks.
The files were posted in an online database by the Los Angeles Times, which for months has reported on the blacklist originally meant to protect Scouts from sexual predators but that often failed to do so. In some instances, the Boy Scouts hid the allegations from parents and police, the newspaper reported.
The files were first made public by the office of Kelly Clark, one of the plaintiff attorneys in an Oregon Supreme Court lawsuit that approved the release of 20,000 confidential Boy Scouts of America documents. The data released by the Times contains files from 1947 to 2005. Not all of the men listed have been accused or convicted of a child sex crime.
 ::snipping2::
The Boy Scouts of America fought for decades to keep the files secret, arguing that people might be less likely to report abuse if they thought those reports might become public. Kept at Boy Scout headquarters in Irving, the files consist of memos from Scout executives, handwritten letters from victims and their parents, and newspaper clippings about legal cases. The files contain details about proven molesters but also unsubstantiated allegations.
In more than a third of cases, according to the Scouts’ own count, police weren’t told about the reports of abuse. And even when they were, sometimes local law enforcement still did nothing.
Victims include three brothers, growing up in northeastern Louisiana. On Aug. 10, 1965, their distraught mother walked into the third floor of the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office. A 31-year-old scoutmaster, she told the chief criminal deputy, had raped one of her sons and molested two others.
Six days later, the scoutmaster, an unemployed airplane mechanic, sat down in front of a microphone in the same station, said he understood his rights and confessed: He had sexually abused the woman’s sons more than once.
“They just occurred. I don’t know an explanation, why we done it or I done it or wanted to do it or anything else, it just — an impulse I guess or something,” the man told a sheriff’s deputy. “As far as an explanation I just couldn’t dig one up.”
He wouldn’t have to. Seven days later, the decision was made not to pursue charges against the scoutmaster.
“This subject and Scouts were not prosecuted,” a Louisiana Scouts executive wrote in a confidential letter to the group’s national personnel division in New Jersey, “to save the name of Scouting.”
More...
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« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2012, 09:32:33 AM »

This is horrendous.  Keeping quiet for the sake of the victims is like telling the victims it's your fault -- IMO.
I realize it's not that simple, but for many it is.
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« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2012, 10:11:42 AM »

This is horrendous.  Keeping quiet for the sake of the victims is like telling the victims it's your fault -- IMO.
I realize it's not that simple, but for many it is.

  
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« Reply #14 on: October 19, 2012, 06:06:24 PM »

Quote
muffy
CW-I've merged the thread you started in News of the Day "Lawyers Release Secret Child Abuse Files; Call For Congress Audit"  with the thread I had started previously in "Crimes Against Children, Elderly and Disabled".


muffy its fine,its where it needs to be

my bros troop # and yr are in the files,he has never said anything, but at
the age of 9/10, he started getting into trouble,the trouble has stayed with
him,he is now doing 3 life sentences,3rd strike out,drugs and murder
maybe if he reads, hears about it,he might talk if something happened
though he was never very talkative about anything
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« Reply #15 on: October 26, 2012, 09:38:19 PM »

http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Former-NC-scoutmaster-admits-he-molested-boys-3981480.php
Former NC scoutmaster admits he molested boys
October 26, 2012

MONROE, N.C. (AP) — Former scoutmaster Thomas J. Menghi Jr. says he was usually drunk when he molested numerous Boy Scouts during the early 1970s.

He was in his late 20s, living in a Fayetteville motel and working as Tupperware deliveryman. He invited boys from Troop 786 as young as 11 years old to ride with him along his route, requesting that they spend the night in his room so they could get an early start.

"Yes, I abused kids," Menghi, now 69, said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "But just how many and other details I can't remember. It was a long time ago and I was in a fog."

Menghi's file is just one among 14,500 pages of "perversion files" compiled by the Boy Scouts of America between 1959 to 1985 and made public last week by court order.

His file details the way local Scout officials investigated the allegations and removed him from the organization, but failed to report crimes to law enforcement. In Menghi's case, even some parents were not told that their children could have been victims.


The AP tracked down the former scoutmaster in Monroe, a bedroom community near Charlotte where he lives on a quiet street around the corner from an elementary school. Had he ever been convicted and placed on the state's sex offender registry, a 2006 law would bar him from living within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare.
 ::snipping2::"What I did was wrong," Menghi said, sitting in a rocking chair on his front porch. "I'm not making any excuses. But I was a heavy drinker and did pot every once in a while."

His file shows local scout officials were contacted in early 1974 by the father of two brothers, ages 11 and 12. They had been overheard by an older sister talking about what happened in Menghi's motel room. Other parents also reported that their sons had been molested.

After interviewing the parents and some of the scouts, Kia Kim District Scout Executive George F. Hardwick Sr. drafted a memo stating that he believed there was evidence Menghi had abused as many as 10 boys. He and other officials met with Menghi the next day to confront him with the abuse claims and barred him from scouting.

"The biggest thing was to get the guy out of scouting and away from our boys," said George Heib, 86, a retired U.S. Army officer who was at the meeting. "Putting the boys through all the trauma of having to go to court and trial and all the stuff like that, I didn't think it was worth it. Of course, the publicity wouldn't be good for scouting, either."

The local scouting officials wrote to national headquarters seeking guidance on whether to encourage the parents of the abused boys to file a criminal complaint. Paul I. Ernst, the BSA executive then in charge of the organization's secret files, directed them not to.

"Normally, we do not suggest that any legal action be instituted by parents," Ernst wrote. "If they desire to do this on their own they certainly should bring about any action they feel necessary. Certainly in this case, there is every indication that legal action is justified."
 ::snipping2::

Now 83 and still active in scouting, Hardwick said Thursday he never contacted some of the parents and never considered going to the police himself.

"As the district executive, I followed the procedure I was supposed to follow," said Hardwick, a retired U.S. Army officer. "I handled it according to my instructions. Today, there's no question the guy would be put in handcuffs. But that wasn't the way it was done in those days. Nobody even wanted to talk about it."

The current leadership of the Boy Scouts of America, which has hired a public relations firm to handle media questions on abuse, declined to comment on Menghi's case.

Menghi said the only reason he stopped molesting boys was because he got caught.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #16 on: November 30, 2012, 10:36:38 PM »

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/order-lets-boy-scouts-abuse-files-private-17850194#.ULkpLrSmDzK
Order Lets Boy Scouts Keep New Abuse Files Private
December 1, 2012

The Boy Scouts of America will not immediately have to turn over 27 years of so-called "perversion files" the group keeps on sexual abuse complaints against adults involved in the organization, a Texas appeal court has ruled.

A former scout who says he was sexually assaulted by a now-imprisoned former scoutmaster has filed suit in San Antonio against the national Boy Scouts and the local group in San Antonio. His attorneys want the Boy Scouts of America to turn over internal files on scout leaders dating from 1985 to last year.

State District Judge Martha Tanner ruled in August that the Scouts would have to release those files to the teenager's attorneys. The 4th Texas Court of Appeals on Thursday granted the Scouts' request to stay that portion of her order.

The public release in October of files dating from 1959 to 1985 revealed a cover-up of decades of sexual abuse, as Scout leadership sought to shield scoutmasters and other adult leaders from criminal charges. The national Scouts organization, based in the Dallas suburb of Irving, has said it now requires any suspicion of abuse to be reported to law enforcement.

Attorneys for the former scout are expected to file a response to the appeals court sometime next week.

Paul Mones, a Portland, Ore., attorney who is one of the lawyers representing the teen, said on Friday that he didn't know what the more recent files might contain.

"We do know, as does the rest of the United States, what's contained in 1959 to 1985," Mones said. "So over the last 27 years, obviously that's something that we believe ... will be important."

Kelly Clark, who worked with Mones on a successful $20 million lawsuit against the Scouts in Portland, said he thought the newer files could show whether or not the national Scouts group had kept its promise to enact measures that better protect children.

Among other measures, the Scouts now prohibit one-on-one activities between adult and youth, require criminal background checks and include an insert for parents about child protection in the handbook issued to new scouts.

Adults also are told to report any suspected child abuse to authorities, even if doing so would not be required by state law.

Clark said he wanted to know if the number of reported abuse incidents had declined in the last few decades.

"If we find out that the numbers are still significant, to me, that adds fuel to the fire," Clark said Friday.

Boy Scouts spokesman Deron Smith said in a statement that the files are maintained "solely to help our organization remove and keep out individuals deemed to be unfit leaders."

"The BSA believes confidentiality of the Files helps to encourage prompt reporting of abuse," Smith said.
 ::snipping2::
In the organization's petition to the appeals court, lawyers for the Boy Scouts say their "ineligible volunteer files" are "confidential and part of an ongoing internal system used ... to allow for background checks for the protection of Scouts."
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« Reply #17 on: December 03, 2012, 12:53:24 PM »

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/national/boy-scouts-resisted-doing-background-checks-on-leaders/article_a13585e6-f25c-5673-acad-89172092000a.html?comment_form=true
Boy Scouts resisted doing background checks on leaders
December 3, 2012

After reports of widespread sexual abuse of children in the late 1980s, several leading youth organizations began conducting criminal background checks of volunteers and staff members.

Big Brothers Big Sisters ordered the checks for all volunteers starting in 1986. Boys and Girls Clubs of America recommended their use the same year.

One of the nation's oldest and largest youth groups, however, was opposed -- the Boy Scouts of America.

Scouting officials argued that background checks would cost too much, scare away volunteers and provide a false sense of security. They successfully lobbied to kill state legislation that would have mandated FBI fingerprint screening.

While touting their efforts to protect children, the Scouts for years resisted one of the most basic tools for preventing abuse. As a result, the organization let in hundreds of men with criminal histories of child molestation, many of whom went on to abuse more children, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of the Scouts' confidential abuse files.

Scouting did not require criminal background checks for all volunteers until 2008 despite calls from parents and staff who said its vetting system didn't work.
More...
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« Reply #18 on: December 03, 2012, 12:56:10 PM »


http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/12/70_louisiana_cases_among_the_b.html
Louisiana has 72 cases among Boy Scouts' 'perversion files' that detail decades of hidden child abuse
Published December 1, 2012, Updated December 2, 2012


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« Reply #19 on: December 03, 2012, 12:57:41 PM »

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/03/3702674/trail-of-sex-abuse-in-nc-scouting.html
2 cases reveal trail of sex abuse in North Carolina Scouting
Years of molestations aided by BSA policies that hid reports

December 3, 2012

(2 pg article)
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