First, I know there is a lot of good to be found in the Boy Scouts of America.
Second, I know there is a lot of good to be found in the Boy Scouts of America.
Third, I know there is a lot of good to be found in the Boy Scouts of America.
BUT... I have been bothered for years by their policies regarding:
... exclusion of gays
... keeping secret lists of names of men accused of molesting scouts.
Finally, an Oregon case has tackled the second issue.
NWCN.com
by SUSANNAH FRAME / KING 5 News
October 17, 2012
Public to get access to Boy Scouts’ ‘perversion files’
Quote:
"Perversion files" kept for decades by the Boy Scouts of America
are scheduled to be released for public inspection Thursday by a Portland attorney.
The thousands of pages of documents contained in 1200 files dated from 1965 to 1985,
show how the Boy Scouts dealt with men who were accused of molesting children.
<snip>
The man who sexually abused Kerry Lewis over a two year period,
Assistant Scoutmaster Timur Dykes, confessed in 1983 to a Scouting leader,
a Mormon bishop, that he had molested 17 boys in his troop.
According to testimony at trial, instead of warning parents or calling police,
the bishop slowly allowed Dykes back into Scouting.
The next year Dykes began molesting Kerry Lewis when the Scout was 13.
Dykes was convicted of the crimes and served prison time in Oregon.
He is currently a Portland resident and a registered sex offender
A jury awarded Lewis $18.5 million in 2010, concluding that the
Boy Scouts knew about the problem and failed to protect him.
The files to be released Thursday were presented to the jury by plaintiff attorneys
as proof that the organization had collected so many records on child molesters
that they had an obligation to warn parents and Scout leaders that pedophiles
were accessing victims through Scouting.
<snip>
The Boy Scouts waged a five-year legal battle to keep the documents away
from public view which led ultimately to an Oregon Supreme Court ruling.
The Court ruled that since the files were admitted into evidence in open court
in the Lewis case, the records belonged to the public and should be produced for public inspection.
<snip>
In 2008 they instituted background checks for all volunteers
and after the Lewis case in 2010, Scout policy changed to require all suspected abuse
be reported to law enforcement.
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