More victims than ever have been able to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse and trauma. This is due to more publicity around the issues as well as the fact that some states have opened a brief window to allow victims whose cases would have otherwise been dismissed due to the statute of limitations to file a claim against their alleged abusers.

Major organizations including the Catholic Church have already been named in numerous sexual abuse lawsuits. In most of these cases, the individual person accused of the crime allegedly committed illegal acts decades before. What makes these lawsuits unique, however, is that the victims are also calling for action because of organizational negligence.

When an organization or company has knowledge about someone’s illegal or abusive behavior, say these lawsuits, it’s their job to take action and remove this person from a position of power or a position in which the person has direct access to the victim population.

When these new laws were passed opening up the statute of limitations windows, multiple organizations that had come under fire in news stories faced extensive financial costs associated with handling this litigation. The Catholic Church is not alone; another organization named in recent claims is the Boy Scouts.

Boy Scout Lawsuit

The first federal lawsuit accusing the Boy Scouts of failing to protect young men in the organization has just been filed. One of the men who brought the sexual abuse and trauma lawsuit says that he was raped by a Cub Scout leader 40 years ago. According to that victim, he was raped and abused multiple times by the same leader.

The man who filed the suit said he never told anyone else about the abuse when it happened over a two and a half year period in the 1970s. The federal lawsuit includes similar allegations from a dozen different plaintiffs who claim that the Boy Scouts organization didn’t do enough to protect its members from rampant abuse.

Much like the Catholic Church, some have accused the Boy Scouts of covering up decades of abuse despite the fact that internal leaders knew about the issues. Not all states did open a window for similar sexual abuse and trauma lawsuits, so the goal of filing a federal suit alleging an unsafe environment is to give those victims a chance to be heard.

The possible financial impact of defending these kinds of suits or paying out settlements could force the Boy Scouts to file for bankruptcy. The organization is over 100 years old but does not have the financial backing to defend against dozens or hundreds of suits filed by victims.

Other lawsuits have been filed in places like Arkansas.

The Boy Scouts recently mortgaged one of their biggest properties, located in New Mexico. The organization was attempting to get a line of credit as it faces more sexual abuse and trauma lawsuits filed by victims who suffered at the hands of Boy Scout and Cub Scout leaders while young men. Although the organization claims they have no plans to sell the property, representatives did state the mortgage move was made in relation to growing sex abuse litigation.

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