Very Bad News For The Boy Scouts

Answer 1

A Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that The Boy Scouts of America had 1,600 internal files of confirmed or alleged sex abuse by adult leaders and volunteers from 1970 to 1991 and failed to report them to authorities.

In some cases of admitted offenders, Boy Scout officials would urge them to quietly resign and help to cover their tracks.

The files are part of the Scouts' internal list of "ineligible volunteers" which have been kept since 1919 to prevent child sex abusers from participating in the organization. The files were made public after they were introduced as evidence in civil trials.

Over the coming weeks, about 1,200 additional files from 1965 to 1985 will be released as part of a court order by the Oregon Supreme Court. The files had been submitted in a 2010 civil trial of a child sex abuse incident in the 80s and resulted in a nearly $20 million judgement against the Boy Scouts.

The new batch of files expected to be released are not likely to spark new lawsuits due to the statute of limitations on sex abuse charges in most states.

The Boy Scouts currently has over 50 child sex abuse cases pending in 18 states.

The Boy Scouts said that while it regrets past incidents of child sex abuse, it currently has implemented preventative policies and procedures, including background checks, while also requiring its members to report even suspicions of abuse directly to authorities.