The Boy Scouts of America currently faces more than 10,000 claims of sexual abuse from victims who claim the BSA failed to protect them from predators within the organization, and filed for bankruptcy as a result back in February.

As the Boy Scouts Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings continue, NPR reports some of the survivors who have come forward with claims about abuse within the organization say that they have found evidence that assets have been purposely moved to protected trusts.

The Boy Scouts Chapter 11 process is meant to create a trust to provide compensation to victims, the organizations says. However, victims claim that some of the organization’s assets are being protected in the bankruptcy process, and therefore from their sex abuse claims.

At the beginning of July, the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts transferred a property to an asset protection trust, the Wall Street Journal reports. This would shield the property from claims filed by sexual abuse victims. This has sparked a growing lack of trust toward the Boy Scouts.

Regarding this claim, the Middle Tennessee Council declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal.

A lawyer for the Boy Scouts said that progress is being made in the Boy Scouts Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. The goal of the bankruptcy proceeding is to come to an agreed resolution of the child sex abuse claims that have affected the organization for the past several years.

Notably, the majority of the Boy Scouts’ wealth is not at the national level—instead, it is divided up among its local councils. At the local level, the Boy Scouts have more than $3 billion in land, facilities, artwork, investments and other assets, compared with just $1.4 billion at the national level.

Did Local BSA Councils File for Bankruptcy?

But it wasn’t the local councils that filed for bankruptcy—only the national Boy Scouts.  Despite this, more than 250 local councils are reportedly benefitting from the bankruptcy shield that now blocks lawsuits over sex abuse within the historic organization’s ranks.

In exchange for this shield, local councils are supposed to tell the national Boy Scouts about any asset transfers that may take place, and national, in turn, is supposed to pass this information on to the official survivors committee.

However, the committee is reportedly finding out about asset transfer from public sources on the internet rather than from the Boy Scouts organization itself.

The local councils maintain that suspicions about asset transfers are unfounded. “With COVID-19 canceling summer camps and closing down Scout shops across the country, local councils have had to make hard decisions,” said Richard Mason, a lawyer for some of the local councils.

The situation is more complicated by the fact that the relationship between the national Boy Scouts of America and its local councils is in dispute, with the BSA and councils saying that they are legally and financially separate entities, and lawyers for sex abuse victims saying they are inextricably linked.

If you were a victim of sexual abuse during your time in the Boy Scouts, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation. Of course, filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by this abuse, but it can at least help to provide some amount of financial compensation, as well as hold those responsible accountable for their actions and inactions.

Filing a lawsuit can be a daunting prospect, so Top Class Actions has laid the groundwork for you by connecting you with an experienced attorney. Consulting an attorney can help you determine if you have a claim, navigate the complexities of litigation, and maximize your potential compensation.

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