Boy Scouts of America pay $18.5 million in lawsuit over secret “Perversion Files”
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In Portland, Oregon yesterday, The Boy Scouts of America were ordered Friday to pay $18.5 million in a lawsuit that has focused new attention on the secret files the Scouts keep to document claims of sexual abuse by troop leaders and volunteers.
Known variously as the “perversion files,” the “red flag files” and the “ineligible volunteer files,” the documents have been maintained for more than 70 years at the Scouts’ national office in Texas. Yet even after scores of abuse cases against the Scouts in recent decades, the case here is one of the few times that substantial portions of the files have been made accessible to a jury.
In Multnomah County Circuit Court on Friday, a jury found the Scouts liable for $18.5 million in punitive damages in a case brought by a man who was sexually abused by an assistant troop leader in the early 1980s, when the man was about 12. The verdict was by far the largest ever against the Scouts in a jury trial. The jury could have ordered the Scouts to pay up to $25 million. The same jury last week awarded the man, Kerry Lewis, $1.4 million in compensatory damages.
Yet another organization entrusted with our young people, betrayed their trust and stole their innocence.
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My old Physics teacher was also a Scout Leader.
When we entered his classroom for the first time in 1970 aged around 12 (our first foray into senior school) all barring four boys had progressed to their first pair of long trousers.
The teacher announced to us with the first words we ever heard him utter, “I prefer my boys in short trousers”.
Suffice to say only two boys ever joined the Scouts from our class – both are resolutely gay.
Need I say more?
I would have to agree with you there Mike. Although I am normally a non-violent person, if I found out it would become my life long mission to create intense agony over what would be left of that person’s short lived life.
I say let the mom’s be den mothers for the scouts. Anyone wanted to touch a little boy when most mom’s are around, would soon find out they could not.
This is how the LDS (Mormon) church does it, where I live. Ladies are now in charge of the Scouts, plus that two layer (two adults must be present at all times) doctrine is helping. The problem isn’t the organization. It’s the individual perverts. Gentlemen like me can assist but are never “alone” with kids unless they are our very own children. I am always a bit creeped out whenever someone wants to be part of a group with kids who doesn’t have any in the program. Sure for a normal person like me, it seems that I don’t get to have the same leadership in Scouts that I have had in the past, but I’m ok with good parents helping one another teach scouting, regardless of gender.
I see we’ve all forgotten the words of the great theologian and humanitarian, Bill Donohue. If they’re not prepubescent, everything’s cool.
Having been a certified scout leader (boy and girl) I can attest to the fact that despite “two deep” leadership (two adults with the kids at all times- ostensibly in a CYA move) for meetings, on outings there are more than enough opportunities for a pervert.
Girl Scouts hardly ever go camping or on outings, as compared to Boy Scouts. Women are the leaders (almost always) of Girl Scouts. Most pedophiles are hetero men, and very few of them are anywhere near the Girl Scouts.
If a pedophile wants to molest a girl, usually he looks no further than his own family.
Very true MH.
Yet another land mine for young boys to navigate through. Priests, scout masters — who else do they have to watch out for?
Tom I am probably the last naive person in the world but fuck!! If I discovered someone had molested my son I would seriously blow up their world. They would think Jihad more like Easter. This is really sad…
I would have to agree with you there Mike. Although I am normally a non-violent person, if I found out it would become my life long mission to create intense agony over what would be left of that person’s short lived life.
Where does this end? The Catholics? OK! I get that. They have been playing with little boys since Jesus was hanging on wood, but the freaking Boy Scouts? How come there is no girl action? Why aren’t the Brownies being molested? How about the girl scouts? WTF??