Boy Scouts of America Hiding ‘Epidemic’ of Pedophilia
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On Monday in Philadelphia a lawsuit was filed against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) on behalf of a man who says a Scout leader sexually abused him for years in the ’70s. The lawfirm that filed the complaint says there’s recently discovered proof that the BSA tried to hide a “pedophilia epidemic” in its midst.
NBC Philadelphia reports the suit by Abused in Scouting, on behalf of a man known as “SD,” alleges that Paul Antosh assaulted SD “hundreds” of times over a span of four or five years, starting when SD was around 13, per court records.
According to the suit, the teen was said to have endured “fondling, and hundreds of incidents of oral sexual assault, with innumerable attempts of anal penetration.” The complaint, however, also makes another claim: They’ve identified 350 scoutmasters and volunteers who sexually abused Scouts, and that they have 800 or so additional clients ready to sue.
These new names, according to Abused in Scouting weren’t known to police and aren’t part of the BSA’s “perversion files,” internal records documenting the cases of nearly 8,000 alleged sexual predators within the ranks of scoutmasters and other volunteers.
NBC News reviewed the names and found at least six that were in the BSA database. “You can’t look at these files and not come to the conclusion that this was a massive problem that was hidden,” one of the lawyers said Tuesday.
What spurred Abused in Scouting to jump on these cases? The fact that new windows on statutes of limitations in such cases have opened (or are set to) in multiple states, and amid rumors that the BSA may soon declare bankruptcy.
“We care deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting,” the BSA says in a statement, per the Washington Post. “We believe victims … and we encourage them to come forward.”
Edited via Newser.
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This all saddens me. Scouting was a wonderful institution in my experience, I hate to see it brought down like this. There were so many good, strong, committed leaders, so many children benefitted… a shame to be so dishonored by a few.
But then again, the NRA was a good institution too….before the Cincinnati Revolt in 1977…..
Exactly. I remember when the NRA was a decent, well-meaning organization.
I try to look at it as less tolerance for crime, but I’d prefer it didn’t come with less tolerance for freedom of thought and speech. Now if only the punishment would fit the crime!
If only…
I am shocked SHOCKED that kiddy diddling is going on with a group like this, same as the priests.
I know you are, but you’re quite young after all my dear 🙂 🙂
Is it a plaque of perverts?
It is, but this plague has been with us for centuries I expect.
I’ve been hearing this for decades, and, in about 1978, I arrested a priest for molesting boys on a scout camping trip. Apparently, he had been doing this for many years, before he finally got caught after a 12-year old boy came forward. The boy committed suicide five years later. The priest pled guilty and was placed on probation for 5 years, and transferred by the church.