Legal action is being pursued against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for failing prevent child abuse. If you were sexually abused by a scoutmaster, employee, or volunteer during your time in Boy Scouts of America, regardless of how many years may have elapsed since then, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
When Trusted Leaders Became Abusers
The Boy Scouts should have been a safe place for young men to learn important survival and leadership skills. Instead, it became a safe environment for sexual predators who used their positions of authority to take advantage of victims.
When caught, the BSA would often ask the predators to resign or would dismiss them with the promise to not level accusations against them if they left quietly. Most were not reported to the police.
Decades of Unreported Child Abuse
The BSA kept files on reports of child abuse and molestation perpetrated by employees and volunteers as far back as 1919. These “perversion files” were meant to keep alleged sexual predators from rejoining the Boy Scouts. But they didn’t work. Pedophiles joined up again under a different name or in a different state. In other cases leadership allowed known predators to rejoin the Scouts, despite their record.
The BSA refused to reveal the “perversion files” to the public, citing privacy concerns. Under the shroud of secrecy, sexual predators could continue abusing children in their communities. Secrecy also kept their victims from seeking justice, since the BSA refused to share evidence that the abuse ever occurred.
The statute of limitations on rape have made it impossible for some victims to file lawsuits. States are considering expanding the statute of limitations for child abuse cases, since victims may not realize what happened to them until they reach adulthood, after the statute of limitations had passed.
If you are a victim of abuse by a Boy Scout employee or volunteer, speak to a lawyer as soon as you can to see if the statute of limitations applies to your case.
The BSA Files for Bankruptcy
In February of 2020, the BSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This places a deadline for victimized Boy Scouts to file claims against them. This also complicates the settlement process.
If you were a victim of abuse during your time in the Boy Scouts, now is the time to come forward. You may not be able to file a claim agains the BSA once the bankruptcy window has passed. Please call our mass tort attorneys or contact us online for a free consultation about your Scouting abuse claim. All victims deserve justice.