Unable to reach a global settlement with alleged sexual abuse survivors, lawyers handling the Boy Scouts bankruptcy are attempting to fashion one. At stake is over $1 billion in assets held by the organization, most of which are in the form of investments such as stocks and bonds, or real estate.

Toward this end, the BSA is trying to shield local councils from liability, as they own the majority of Boy Scout camps. However, this strategy does not fly with plaintiffs’ counsel, who point out that they are still part of the central organization.

A Tragic History of Sexual Abuse

For nearly a century, the BSA has maintained what has been dubbed as the “Perversion Files.” Officially known as the “Ineligible Volunteer Files,” these records consist of names of individuals who had their BSA registration pulled over “reasonable allegations” of pedophilia and sexual abuse. Although these records have been kept since the 1920s, they have been kept confidential and unavailable to the general public — until now.

Recently, the BSA hired a psychiatrist to conduct a study of the files. Dr. Janet Warren, a professor from the University of Virginia found that well over 12,000 boys had been molested and abused by more than 7,800 Scout leaders and volunteers in documented incidents dating back to the 1940s. However, in a news conference held in April of last year, plaintiffs attorney Jeff Anderson said, “This is far from a full disclosure of what the Boy Scouts actually knew, because all the files have not been excavated.”

Is the Boy Scouts Bankruptcy Justice Deferred – or Denied?

The Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 on Feb. 18.  This, unfortunately, means that claims against the organization filed by sexual abuse survivors are on hold. However, a solution has been proposed in which the BSA would establish a fund against which survivors would be able to file a claim.

It would be similar to the compensation fund established by the Catholic Church in New Jersey in the aftermath of the Roman Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal. The problem, according to a plaintiff’s attorney interviewed in the New York Times, is that the BSA’s liability could wind up being far more than the $1 billion that has been proposed.

The BSA has apparently come to the same realization, because for the past few years, the organization has been attempting to distance itself from its local branches, referring to them as “franchises.”

However, a plaintiff’s attorney John Manly says that for the BSA to do that “…is like arguing that General Motors doesn’t have any relation to its factories.” There is validity in that statement: although Boy Scout troops are locally operated, the national organization chooses local executives, operates employee retirement plans, and screens prospective volunteers.

Regardless of the outcome of the Boy Scouts Bankruptcy, it is more than likely that local BSA chapters will be obligated to contribute to any settlement.

You may qualify to hold sexual abusers accountable under newly expanded protections for sexual assault survivors.

New laws recently passed in New York and New Jersey will extend protections to those who were sexually abused as children.

In New York, survivors of sexual abuse as children will have until age 55 to bring civil lawsuits against alleged perpetrators, and a one year “look back window” has been created for those who previously tried to bring claims but were denied due to the statute of limitations.

The expanded laws will allow child sexual abuse survivors who may have lived with the pain of the abuse for decades to bring not only the perpetrators to justice but also public and private entities who may have protected abusers.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.