Scouting sex abuse cases
Encyclopedia
Scouting sex abuse cases are situations where youth
involved in Scouting
programs have been sexually abused by someone who is also involved in the scouting program (an adult scout leader, or more rarely, a fellow scout). In some instances, formal charges have been laid, resulting in specific legal cases.
It is felt by some that the incidence of sexual abuse is exaggerated, however, in any organization as large as the Boy Scouts, there is a chance for abuse to occur. Children of parents who have been told about what to look out for and have an open relationship with their parents about sexual matters are much less likely to become victims of abuse.
, Gregory John Kench, was charged with having sex with a 13-year-old boy two times. Kench was sentenced to 10 years in jail. This was his second conviction in five years for sexual abuse against Scouts. The offences occurred in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
In September 2009, a 61-year-old man and former Scout leader in South Australia
, was convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year old boy. The abuse took place over four years in the 1980s. The man was not named to save his own teenage son from embarrassment.
leader, was sentenced in 1997 to 16 months in jail for sexually assaulting a young Ottawa, Ontario scout. The abuse occurred from 1979 to 1985, from the time the youth was 9 to 15 years old, and took place in the offender’s home and Scouts Canada properties.
In 2001, Brian Durham, a former Kitchener, Ontario
Scout leader, pleaded guilty to
27 counts of assault, sexual touching and counseling to commit sexual acts. Many more charges were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea. The offenses were committed against 20 children from January 1991 to March 2000. Separately, the court was handling six additional charges against Durham based on offenses he committed in 1973 and 1974, that fell under a now defunct act.
In 2011 CBC News
reported that Scouts Canada had signed out-of-court confidentiality agreements with more than a dozen child sex-abuse victims. These agreements reportedly forbade the youths from revealing the amounts paid or even the fact that there was a settlement and, in one case, from making any public statement regarding the abuse. CBC researchers found that 24 lawsuits had been filed against Scouts Canada since 1995, all concerning incidents between 1960 and the 1990s, with 13 victims signing confidentiality agreements. Out of court settlements are a common practice due to lower costs to all parties involved and are not an admission of fault or blame upon either party. . Furthermore, according to a lawyer who has filed several cases against Scouts Canada in the past that "she could not recall one occasion during the process of resolving a lawsuit when Scouts Canada sought to prevent a plaintiff from talking about the abuse he suffered."
Scouts Canada has modernized extensive screening practices in place including a police records check with vulnerable sector check (no pardoned sex offenses), multiple references checked before a volunteer is able to have contact with youth. In addition, Scouts Canada volunteers are prohibited from being with a youth member alone, two fully screened volunteers are required to be present at all times. In the event that a volunteer is suspected of any wrongdoing, they are immediately suspended and the relevant authorities are notified with all information shared.
Furthermore, Scouts Canada provides resources within it's programs to educate youth members about the possibility of abuse from any source and requires youth members to review a booklet on the subject as part of several program badges.
said, "The association is aware that Julien Pike has pleaded guilty to the charges laid before him. Pike was suspended from any form of contact with the movement as soon as we were aware of the arrest. The Scout Association carries out stringent vetting of all adults who work with young people."
In April 2011, David Burland, 53, of the 1st Burnham-on-Sea
Scout Group in Somerset
, was bailed to appear before Taunton
Deane Magistrates' Court after being charged with 12 indecent assaults, 13 counts of sexual assault, four counts of gross indecency and six of inciting a boy to engage in sexual activity. These charges relate to the alleged abuse of boys under the age of 16. Burland also faces a charge of sexual assault and indecent exposure relating to a girl under 16. Burland had been involved in the Scout movement since the 1990s.
On 25 April 2011, 44-year old Steven Etherington, from Pocklington
, East Riding of Yorkshire, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault. He bound the hands and feet of one boy and whipped him with a wet tea towel for not wearing a high-vis vest while cycling. Another boy was staked to the ground and tied to tent pegs in a star shape to teach him not to be ticklish. Etherington was The Scout Association
s' child protection officer, in charge of training scout leaders across the Yorkshire district.
City resident and father of two was charged with having performed oral sex on an 11-year old Boy Scout more than 20 years earlier at Scout camps. The victim, who was not named, "...said he had gone through hell since he was sexually assaulted, suffering depression and having relationship problems. He said the day in court was a long time coming, and added that because of the abuse, he had been permanently stained for life.”
In 2008, Wilson Reid, a 49-year-old Scout leader in Portadown, Northern Ireland
, was arrested and charged with count of rape, three counts of indecent assault against a male child and one count of supplying intoxicating substances to a person under 18. These incidents took place in 1997 and 1998.
.
In 1996 Donald John MacFarlane was convicted and fined $15,000 for indecently assaulting two boys. He was a scout leader for one of the boys. The abuse happened in Southland
between January 1972 and December 1974.
In 1999 David John White, a scout leader in the Porirua suburb of Whitby
, pleaded guilty to eight charges of indecently assaulting scouts at his home between 1984 and 1998. Two other scout leaders, Thomas Donahue and Neville Palmer from Whitby, were also prosecuted for indecent assault.
Two Auckland scout leaders, Andrew John Pybus and Nigel Richard Fenemor, were jailed in 2005 for seven years for sexually assaulting two boys under the age of 16.
In 2006 Ken Matheson was found guilty of two cases of sexual assault of a scout between November 1989 and November 1993. Seven allegations were initially made against him.
for more than 20 years, admitted to abusing two 15-year old boys in his home in 2006. To entice the boys to visit his home, Grant had set up a “fake camp,” complete with fake parent authorization forms, and obtained the parents’ permission for the boys to attend. Instead, the boys were taken to his home and given alcohol before the abuse took place. He was sentenced to nine months in jail. In response, the Scottish Scouting Association representative said the organization’s background checks were as “robust’ as they could be.”
Earlier in 2006, Paul Firth, a former Scottish Scout Association leader, was jailed for a "indecency involving boys as young as eight between 1974 to 1996"
prior to 1994 by Scout leaders, yet abuse is still occurring as evidenced by one abuse case as recently as 2005 to 2006. In the 1980s, the Boy Scouts of America, the largest US youth organization with 4 million members, created a sex abuse education and prevention program entitled the Youth Protection program to help address the problem. The high risk of volunteer organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America has been widely recognized.
US abuse cases include:
The series of articles drew on three historical sources:
The newspaper discovered that at least 1,151 Scouts reported being abused by their leaders over a 19 year period: they published a detailed list of 416 cases from 1971-1990 where a US Scout leader who was arrested or banned from Scouting for sexual abuse of Scouts, adding that experts said the real number of abusers and victims was probably several times higher.
The newspaper articles later formed the basis for a book by the main journalist involved, Patrick Boyle: Scout's Honor: Sexual Abuse in America's Most Trusted Institution.
The article series, written shortly after the inception of BSA's Youth Protection program, said "After decades of shying away from the problem, the Scouts have created what many child abuse experts call one of the best sex abuse education programs in the country. The program teaches boys, leaders and parents about resisting, recognizing and reporting abuse."
. For example in the five years from 1986 to 1991 the BSA and their local councils paid or agreed to pay more than $15 million in damages to settle lawsuits over boys who were sexually abused by Scout leaders, a study of 50 lawsuits against the Scouts showed. According to the Scouts federal tax returns, payments to just one law firm in Miami working on abuse cases for the BSA totaled more than one-half million dollars; the BSA insurance reserve, from which the damages are paid, stood at $61.9 million.
The actual payment total, said the Washington Times in 1991, is probably far higher because the Scouts sometimes agree to pay damages only if the payments are kept secret. Keeping any type of damage award confidential is very commonly required by insurers.
In August 2007, the Washington state Supreme Court ordered the BSA to hand over documents concerning sexual abuse by Scout leaders. These documents show that the organization has removed about 180 of its leaders each year (about one every other day), although many of these removals have to do with other issues besides child abuse.
In 2010, a report said that in the US, the Scouts were reported to have settled about 60 similar cases out of court over recent years.
To prevent abuse, all of the above activities are banned or restricted by the BSA's Youth Protection program
. The goal of the YPP is to educate youth, leaders and parents about the problem as a whole, and to introduce barriers to pedophiles using the Scout program to reach victims. Despite these efforts, sex abuse cases still occur within the Boy Scouts.
had managed to keep these cases largely underwater nationally. All of a sudden, it's gotten blown out of the water and the public knows that the Scouts have had this problem, too -- just like the Catholic Church."
After four weeks of trial Multnomah County jurors found the Texas-based Boy Scouts of America negligent for the sexual abuse of an 11-year-old Southeast Portland boy by an assistant Scoutmaster and convicted pedophile. The jury awarded the boy, by then 38, $1.4 million.
The trial provided a rare opportunity for an American jury to view confidential files held by the Scouts, although Scouts had fought to keep the files secret. They showed BSA knowledge of Scout abuse dated back to the 1920s.
Youth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
involved in Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
programs have been sexually abused by someone who is also involved in the scouting program (an adult scout leader, or more rarely, a fellow scout). In some instances, formal charges have been laid, resulting in specific legal cases.
It is felt by some that the incidence of sexual abuse is exaggerated, however, in any organization as large as the Boy Scouts, there is a chance for abuse to occur. Children of parents who have been told about what to look out for and have an open relationship with their parents about sexual matters are much less likely to become victims of abuse.
Australia
In 2004, a 48-year-old, former Scout Association of Australia leader in South AustraliaSouth Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, Gregory John Kench, was charged with having sex with a 13-year-old boy two times. Kench was sentenced to 10 years in jail. This was his second conviction in five years for sexual abuse against Scouts. The offences occurred in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
In September 2009, a 61-year-old man and former Scout leader in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, was convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year old boy. The abuse took place over four years in the 1980s. The man was not named to save his own teenage son from embarrassment.
Canada
In 1997, John Adams, a former Scouts CanadaScouts Canada
Scouts Canada is a Canadian Scouting association that, in affiliation with the French-language Association des Scouts du Canada, is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement...
leader, was sentenced in 1997 to 16 months in jail for sexually assaulting a young Ottawa, Ontario scout. The abuse occurred from 1979 to 1985, from the time the youth was 9 to 15 years old, and took place in the offender’s home and Scouts Canada properties.
In 2001, Brian Durham, a former Kitchener, Ontario
Kitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
Scout leader, pleaded guilty to
27 counts of assault, sexual touching and counseling to commit sexual acts. Many more charges were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea. The offenses were committed against 20 children from January 1991 to March 2000. Separately, the court was handling six additional charges against Durham based on offenses he committed in 1973 and 1974, that fell under a now defunct act.
In 2011 CBC News
CBC News
CBC News is the department within the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on CBC television, radio and online services...
reported that Scouts Canada had signed out-of-court confidentiality agreements with more than a dozen child sex-abuse victims. These agreements reportedly forbade the youths from revealing the amounts paid or even the fact that there was a settlement and, in one case, from making any public statement regarding the abuse. CBC researchers found that 24 lawsuits had been filed against Scouts Canada since 1995, all concerning incidents between 1960 and the 1990s, with 13 victims signing confidentiality agreements. Out of court settlements are a common practice due to lower costs to all parties involved and are not an admission of fault or blame upon either party. . Furthermore, according to a lawyer who has filed several cases against Scouts Canada in the past that "she could not recall one occasion during the process of resolving a lawsuit when Scouts Canada sought to prevent a plaintiff from talking about the abuse he suffered."
Scouts Canada has modernized extensive screening practices in place including a police records check with vulnerable sector check (no pardoned sex offenses), multiple references checked before a volunteer is able to have contact with youth. In addition, Scouts Canada volunteers are prohibited from being with a youth member alone, two fully screened volunteers are required to be present at all times. In the event that a volunteer is suspected of any wrongdoing, they are immediately suspended and the relevant authorities are notified with all information shared.
Furthermore, Scouts Canada provides resources within it's programs to educate youth members about the possibility of abuse from any source and requires youth members to review a booklet on the subject as part of several program badges.
England
A 37-year old Norwich, England man who had been a former Scout leader pleaded guilty in 2009 to five charges of having sex with a child. The sexual activity started about 2004, when the child was 13 years old, and continued for three years. The offender, Julien Pike, was sentenced to four years in jail. In reaction to the case, an official of The Scout AssociationThe Scout Association
The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...
said, "The association is aware that Julien Pike has pleaded guilty to the charges laid before him. Pike was suspended from any form of contact with the movement as soon as we were aware of the arrest. The Scout Association carries out stringent vetting of all adults who work with young people."
In April 2011, David Burland, 53, of the 1st Burnham-on-Sea
Burnham-on-Sea
Burnham-on-Sea is a town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett and Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small village until the late 18th century, when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. It forms part of the parish of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge...
Scout Group in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, was bailed to appear before Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
Deane Magistrates' Court after being charged with 12 indecent assaults, 13 counts of sexual assault, four counts of gross indecency and six of inciting a boy to engage in sexual activity. These charges relate to the alleged abuse of boys under the age of 16. Burland also faces a charge of sexual assault and indecent exposure relating to a girl under 16. Burland had been involved in the Scout movement since the 1990s.
On 25 April 2011, 44-year old Steven Etherington, from Pocklington
Pocklington
Pocklington is a small market town and civil parish situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, approximately east of York....
, East Riding of Yorkshire, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault. He bound the hands and feet of one boy and whipped him with a wet tea towel for not wearing a high-vis vest while cycling. Another boy was staked to the ground and tied to tent pegs in a star shape to teach him not to be ticklish. Etherington was The Scout Association
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...
s' child protection officer, in charge of training scout leaders across the Yorkshire district.
Ireland
In 2003, John O’Leary, a 42-year old man and former Scout leader was sentenced to three years in prison. The CorkCork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
City resident and father of two was charged with having performed oral sex on an 11-year old Boy Scout more than 20 years earlier at Scout camps. The victim, who was not named, "...said he had gone through hell since he was sexually assaulted, suffering depression and having relationship problems. He said the day in court was a long time coming, and added that because of the abuse, he had been permanently stained for life.”
In 2008, Wilson Reid, a 49-year-old Scout leader in Portadown, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, was arrested and charged with count of rape, three counts of indecent assault against a male child and one count of supplying intoxicating substances to a person under 18. These incidents took place in 1997 and 1998.
New Zealand
A number of sex abuse cases have occurred in the scouting movement in New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
In 1996 Donald John MacFarlane was convicted and fined $15,000 for indecently assaulting two boys. He was a scout leader for one of the boys. The abuse happened in Southland
Southland Region
Southland is New Zealand's southernmost region and is also a district within that region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura...
between January 1972 and December 1974.
In 1999 David John White, a scout leader in the Porirua suburb of Whitby
Whitby, New Zealand
Whitby, a large suburb of Porirua City, New Zealand, located along much of the southern shore of the Pauatahanui Inlet of Porirua Harbour was comprehensively planned in the 1960s and it has been continuously developed since, with current landscaping and expansion in the hills behind the eastern...
, pleaded guilty to eight charges of indecently assaulting scouts at his home between 1984 and 1998. Two other scout leaders, Thomas Donahue and Neville Palmer from Whitby, were also prosecuted for indecent assault.
Two Auckland scout leaders, Andrew John Pybus and Nigel Richard Fenemor, were jailed in 2005 for seven years for sexually assaulting two boys under the age of 16.
In 2006 Ken Matheson was found guilty of two cases of sexual assault of a scout between November 1989 and November 1993. Seven allegations were initially made against him.
Scotland
In 2006, Alan Grant, a 42-year old man who had held Scouting leadership positions in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
for more than 20 years, admitted to abusing two 15-year old boys in his home in 2006. To entice the boys to visit his home, Grant had set up a “fake camp,” complete with fake parent authorization forms, and obtained the parents’ permission for the boys to attend. Instead, the boys were taken to his home and given alcohol before the abuse took place. He was sentenced to nine months in jail. In response, the Scottish Scouting Association representative said the organization’s background checks were as “robust’ as they could be.”
Earlier in 2006, Paul Firth, a former Scottish Scout Association leader, was jailed for a "indecency involving boys as young as eight between 1974 to 1996"
United States
There have been more than 2,000 US cases of abuse within the Boy Scouts of AmericaBoy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
prior to 1994 by Scout leaders, yet abuse is still occurring as evidenced by one abuse case as recently as 2005 to 2006. In the 1980s, the Boy Scouts of America, the largest US youth organization with 4 million members, created a sex abuse education and prevention program entitled the Youth Protection program to help address the problem. The high risk of volunteer organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America has been widely recognized.
US abuse cases include:
- Joe Gibson, a Scoutmaster in the St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
area, was convicted in June 1982 for molesting scouts on camping trips. - Timur Dykes is a former OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
Boy Scout leader who admitted to abusing a boy who was about 12 in the 1980s. In a 2010 case involving Dykes, plaintiff Kerry Lewis, represented by trial lawyer Kelly Clark of Portland, won the jury trial and the largest punitive damages to date ($18.5m) awarded for sexual molestation in the Boy Scouts. - Martin Turner, a 64-year old former Boy Scout leader in TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, pleaded guilty in 2008 to two counts of indecency with a child by contact and one count of attempted indecency with a child by contact. He had abused two children in cases going back up to 40 years. - David McDonald Rankin, a former Scoutmaster in College Park, MarylandCollege Park, MarylandCollege Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...
, was convicted for sexually abusing teenage Scouts between 1984 and 1987. He forced Scouts to have sex with him, once threatening a youth with a knife. - Gary Lee Gephart, a former Cub Scout leader in Oceanside, CaliforniaOceanside, California-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Oceanside had a population of 167,086. The population density was 3,961.8 people per square mile...
, was convicted in 1996 for molesting three boys, ages 7 to 12. - Howard W. Curtis, a 58-year old Haverhill, MassachusettsHaverhill, MassachusettsHaverhill is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 60,879 at the 2010 census.Located on the Merrimack River, it began as a farming community that would evolve into an important industrial center, beginning with sawmills and gristmills run by water power. In the...
librarian and former Scout leader, pled guilty in May 2008 to two counts of raping a boy in his troop more than two decades ago. The 13-year-old victim was forced to engage in various sexual activities and was videotaped. During the trial, two other Scouts testified that Curtis also had abused them, but the statute of limitations had prohibited prosecution of their cases. - James Hiatt, a former Boy Scout leader in TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, was convicted in May 2008 of nine of 10 counts related to his fondling and sexual contact with a 12-year-old Scout. The abuse took place about 2003 to 2005. - Gary Wade Brown, a former Boy Scout Leader in Orem, UtahOrem, UtahOrem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the north-central part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is about south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Utah and...
, who in 2009 pled guilty to four counts of sexual abuse of a child and sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree felonies, and one count of lewdness involving a child, a Class A misdemeanor. Seven additional charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. The abuse involved a 12-year old boy and took place between 2005 and 2006. - Charles Donald Corley, Boy Scout volunteer in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
was convicted on two counts of first degree sodomy and three counts of sexual abuse against three young men in 1995. - Richard Turley, a former volunteer in CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, was convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting an 11-year-old Canadian scout. After 18 months he was released from a mental institution and went right back to work, beginning his volunteer work at a California scout camp. In 1979, he assaulted three of those scouts. Upon learning this, Boy Scouts of American simply told Turley to return to CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, not warning Scouts CanadaScouts CanadaScouts Canada is a Canadian Scouting association that, in affiliation with the French-language Association des Scouts du Canada, is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement...
of Turley’s criminal behavior. In 1996, Turley went on to assault four boys, three of which were scouts, in Victoria, British ColumbiaVictoria, British ColumbiaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
1991 Washington Times investigation
In May 1991 the Washington Times published a major five-part investigation entitled “Scouts Honor” on sex abuse in the BSA. Staff from the newspaper had worked for two years preparing the series, reviewing internal and personnel records from the Boy Scouts; tens of thousands of pages of court records from more than 20 states; and more than 1,000 newspaper articles about abused Scouts; as well as interviewing more than 200 people, including molesters, families of victims, Scout leaders, sex abuse experts and lawyers. The newspaper restricted itself to reported cases of male Scout leaders abusing boy scouts prior to the introduction of its Youth Protection program. In summation they wrote “The Boy Scouts are a magnet for men who want to have sexual relations with children...Pedophiles join the Scouts for a simple reason: it’s where the boys are.”The series of articles drew on three historical sources:
- Historical “confidential files” (formerly known as the “Ineligible Volunteer Files”) within Scout records, with details on 231 Scout leaders banned from Scouting for sexual misconduct from 1975 through 1984.
- 50 lawsuits against the Scouts by families of molested boys from around the US.
- A list from the BSA of more than 350 men banned for sexual misconduct from 1971 to 1986.
The newspaper discovered that at least 1,151 Scouts reported being abused by their leaders over a 19 year period: they published a detailed list of 416 cases from 1971-1990 where a US Scout leader who was arrested or banned from Scouting for sexual abuse of Scouts, adding that experts said the real number of abusers and victims was probably several times higher.
The newspaper articles later formed the basis for a book by the main journalist involved, Patrick Boyle: Scout's Honor: Sexual Abuse in America's Most Trusted Institution.
The article series, written shortly after the inception of BSA's Youth Protection program, said "After decades of shying away from the problem, the Scouts have created what many child abuse experts call one of the best sex abuse education programs in the country. The program teaches boys, leaders and parents about resisting, recognizing and reporting abuse."
Legal actions
A number of families of abused boys have brought law suits against the Boy Scouts of AmericaBoy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
. For example in the five years from 1986 to 1991 the BSA and their local councils paid or agreed to pay more than $15 million in damages to settle lawsuits over boys who were sexually abused by Scout leaders, a study of 50 lawsuits against the Scouts showed. According to the Scouts federal tax returns, payments to just one law firm in Miami working on abuse cases for the BSA totaled more than one-half million dollars; the BSA insurance reserve, from which the damages are paid, stood at $61.9 million.
The actual payment total, said the Washington Times in 1991, is probably far higher because the Scouts sometimes agree to pay damages only if the payments are kept secret. Keeping any type of damage award confidential is very commonly required by insurers.
In August 2007, the Washington state Supreme Court ordered the BSA to hand over documents concerning sexual abuse by Scout leaders. These documents show that the organization has removed about 180 of its leaders each year (about one every other day), although many of these removals have to do with other issues besides child abuse.
In 2010, a report said that in the US, the Scouts were reported to have settled about 60 similar cases out of court over recent years.
Scouting related activities where sexual abuse had occurred
Records showed that abuse incidents were most likely to occur during campouts or while boys are sleeping over at the abuser’s home. Some of the traditions, situations and ploys that abusers had turned into conduits for sex are:- Campouts: According to Kenneth Lannings, "A skilled pedophile who can get children into a situation where they must change clothing or stay with him overnight will almost always succeed in seducing them".
- Sexually related games
- Misuse of authority and loyalty
- Initiation rites
- Trips alone
- Sleepovers
To prevent abuse, all of the above activities are banned or restricted by the BSA's Youth Protection program
Response by the BSA
Scouting was among the first national youth organizations to address the issue of sexual abuse of its members and in the 1980s developed its Youth Protection programYouth Protection program (Boy Scouts of America)
The Youth Protection program is a set of standards, guidelines and training developed by the Boy Scouts of America to eliminate opportunities for the abuse of youth members. All adults are required to complete the Youth Protection Program training before being registered as BSA leaders and must be...
. The goal of the YPP is to educate youth, leaders and parents about the problem as a whole, and to introduce barriers to pedophiles using the Scout program to reach victims. Despite these efforts, sex abuse cases still occur within the Boy Scouts.
Oregon case
2010 saw a court case in Oregon which some observers said "could have a snowball effect in much the same way high-profile molestation suits against the Roman Catholic Church had". Patrick Boyle, author of "Scout's Honor: Sexual Abuse in America's Most Trusted Institution" was quoted as commenting "Until this case, the Boy Scouts of AmericaBoy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
had managed to keep these cases largely underwater nationally. All of a sudden, it's gotten blown out of the water and the public knows that the Scouts have had this problem, too -- just like the Catholic Church."
After four weeks of trial Multnomah County jurors found the Texas-based Boy Scouts of America negligent for the sexual abuse of an 11-year-old Southeast Portland boy by an assistant Scoutmaster and convicted pedophile. The jury awarded the boy, by then 38, $1.4 million.
The trial provided a rare opportunity for an American jury to view confidential files held by the Scouts, although Scouts had fought to keep the files secret. They showed BSA knowledge of Scout abuse dated back to the 1920s.
See also
- AbuseAbuseAbuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise...
- Child abuseChild abuseChild abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
- Child sexual abuseChild sexual abuseChild sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
- Jehovah's Witnesses and child sex abuseJehovah's Witnesses and child sex abuseAs with other religious organisations, Jehovah's Witnesses have been obliged in recent years to develop child protection policies to deal with cases of child abuse in their congregations. Details of the policy have been published in Jehovah's Witnesses' publications and press releases issued by...
- Peter ZuckermanPeter ZuckermanPeter Zuckerman is an American prize-winning journalist and author who has focused his career in court reporting, investigative journalism and adventure stories.-Early career:...
- Roman Catholic sex abuse casesRoman Catholic sex abuse casesThe Catholic sex abuse cases are a series of convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests and members of religious orders. These cases began receiving public attention beginning in the mid-1980s...
- Sexual abuseSexual abuseSexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
- Sexual misconductSexual misconductSexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature. The term may be used to condemn an act, but in some jurisdictions it has also a legal meaning....
- Sexual harassment and abuse by teachers
Additional reading
- Patrick Boyle, Scout's Honor: Sexual Abuse in America's Most Trusted Institution, 1995. ISBN 0761500243 Patrick Boyle Home page for book, other activities.
- Washington Times, “Scout’s Honor, by Patrick Boyle, 5-part series on Scout abuse, May 1991: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
External links
- 1994 Article on CBS News and other reporting of sex abuse within scouting, in the American Journalism Review, March 1994 http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=1276