Men who were victims of child sexual assault when they were members of the Boy Scouts of America have a surprisingly short amount of time to seek retribution through lawsuits because of the Boy Scouts’ bankruptcy filing.

According to The New York Times, lawyers for both the victims and the Boy Scouts reached an agreement that allows child victims of sexual abuse to have until Nov. 16 to file a lawsuit against the national organization. Any attempt to file suit later may only pursue legal recourse through a local Boy Scout council, which attorneys say could point the finger back at the national organization that will be exempt.

Boy Scouts of America Bankruptcy Protection

On Feb. 18, the Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

According to NBC News, a Boy Scouts spokesman at the time said the bankruptcy was intended to meet “two key objectives: equitably compensate victims who were harmed during their time in Scouting and continue carrying out its mission for years to come. The BSA intends to use the Chapter 11 process to create a Victims Compensation Trust that would provide equitable compensation to victims.”

Local councils that operate with financial independence and provide programs and services to individual communities are not affected by the bankruptcy, said the Boy Scouts national organization.

The Boy Scouts’ bankruptcy filing means the Nov. 16 deadline overrules any state’s newly established deadline to bring forth sexual assault committed when a victim was a child.

Many states have enacted child victim laws that allow a look-back window of one to three years for people who were victims of sexual abuse as children to come forth and file lawsuits against the perpetrators and the church or organization that helped enable or hide the abuse. The Roman Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal made many of the initial headlines, but the Boy Scouts and the YMCA have faced thousands of allegations of child sexual abuse, too.

Adding to the sense of urgency now is the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in some states shutting down their court systems except for emergency filings. The state of New York placed all court filings on hold in March and began to open up the state in mid-May.

Survivors Under Pressure to Come Forward

Time interviewed Gil Gayle, who said he was abused by two different Scout Masters. Gil, now 58, said one of the men is now dead and the other is a convicted sex offender.

Gayle said neither man’s name was listed in the Boy Scouts’ “Perversion Files,” a list that was revealed through a court order in 2010. The list was kept by the Boy Scouts of America as a secret record of men who were accused of sexually abusing boys, and thousands of boys had reported suffering sexual abuse.

Gayle told Time he believes the Boy Scouts organization knew many children were being victimized by Scout Masters and volunteers, but made the decision to look the other way for five decades.

The Nov. 16 deadline will probably make too many men feel rushed and unable to feel comfortable coming forward if they have not yet come to terms with the abuse, say some trauma experts.

“Candidly, there are way more of us out there that probably won’t come forward because that wave of dread and anxiety is just too overwhelming for a lot of people,” Gayle expressed to Time. “I was 30 years old before I told anyone that happened to me – and I’m super open-minded and didn’t feel like I was going to be shamed. It’s just the pain you get when you open the door, because the second you do it, it kind of floods back in.”

Jim Turley, National Chair of the Boy Scouts of America, posted a letter on the organization’s website, which addresses the sexual abuse.

Turley apologizes on behalf of himself and of the entire Scouting community and says, “I am devastated that there were times in the past when we failed the very children we were supposed to protect.”

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