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  1. #1
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    Boy Scout sex abuse files expected to be released within weeks

    my troop leader got busted when i was in 6th grade. nothing more wholesome than an organization for boys that hides rampant sex abuse and discriminates against homosexuals, atheists and agnostics <cough> catholic church <cough>. the poor kids didn't realize the magnitude of always be prepared.

    http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i...iles_--_w.html

    An Oregon Supreme Court decision Thursday to release 20,000 pages of files about volunteers who molested Boy Scouts likely will have two effects: First, it will continue to embarrass the 102-year-old Boy Scouts of America, which has worked vigorously to distance itself from a dark chapter in its past.

    Second -- because the files outline a widespread problem of child sex abuse and the organization's attempts to cover it up -- the ruling could open the floodgates of litigation. Attorneys of men who were abused as Scouts will have precisely the evidence they need to sue the Texas-based youth organization for many millions of dollars in punitive damages, legal experts say.

    Within weeks, a Portland law firm plans to post the 1,247 files on its website for all to see -- with the names of alleged child victims and the people who reported the suspected abuse removed.

    "No company wants to have its personnel files made public like this," said Patrick Boyle, a freelance journalist who has written extensively about sex abuse in the Scouts and is one of the country's most prominent authorities on the subject. "This is a nightmare for (the Boy Scouts of America). ...Kids may be less likely to join. Parents may be more fearful. People could be less likely to volunteer."

    The Boy Scouts had vigorously fought the release of the so-called ineligible volunteer files, also known as perversion files, covering 1965 to 1985. A Portland jury in 2010 used the documents to award nearly $20 million after a 38-year-old Oregon man sued the Boy Scouts for failing to protect him in the 1980s from Timur Dykes, a Southeast Portland volunteer who had already confessed to molesting 17 other boys.

    The man's attorneys argued that the Boy Scouts knew it had a decades-long problem of child molesters infiltrating its volunteer ranks, yet the organization failed to warn parents or keep pedophiles away from children.

    The verdict -- which remains the largest against the Boy Scouts -- was later reduced in an undisclosed settlement that prevents the Boy Scouts from appealing.

    Before trial began, Multnomah County Circuit Judge John Wittmayer had ordered the Boy Scouts to hand over two decades' worth of the files, which the organization started keeping as early as the 1920s. The Oregonian, The Associated Press, The New York Times and other news organizations sued for the release of the files from 1965-1985 after the trial was over.

    More
    The Oregonian’s continuing coverage of a Portland Boy Scout leader suspected of abusing members of his troop.
    Wittmayer ruled that in compliance with Oregon's open court system, the files must be given to the press or any other member of the public who wanted to see them. He said, however, that the names of victims and the people who reported the abuse must be blacked out.

    The Oregon Supreme Court upheld Wittmayer's decision.

    Only twice before have such files become public because of lawsuits against the Boy Scouts -- in California and Virginia. But the attorneys representing former Scouts who were sexually abused had to work hard to dig up those files, and the documents spanned a slightly different period, from 1971-1991. The Oregonian wrote about the disturbing contents of those files in a 2010 series.

    Attorneys Kelly Clark, Paul Mones and other lawyers from their Portland firm held a news conference to praise the Oregon high court's ruling, saying it casts a light on child sexual abuse, which has made major headlines this week particularly because of the molestation trial of former Penn State University coach Jerry Sandusky.

    "Society is continuing to say it's not OK for institutions of trust to keep secrets about the abuse of children," Clark said. "...Child abuse thrives in secrecy."

    Mones said when victims of child abuse hear about others who have been abused, they come forward and are more likely to deal with abuse that has caused a lifetime of problems, including drug use and trouble building romantic relationships and holding down jobs. The release of the ineligible volunteer files "will help them know they are not alone," he said.

    Since Clark and Mones brought the case of the Oregon man, Kerry Lewis, to trial in 2010, their firm has fielded calls from about 1,000 men from across the country who said they also were abused when they were Boy Scouts. The firm has represented 50 to 75 of those men, in Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and several other states that have liberal statute of limitation laws that allow for victims to sue decades later. Oregon, for example, allows child sex abuse victims to sue until age 40 or within five years of realizing how the abuse has damaged them.

    A spokeswoman for the Boy Scouts couldn't gauge whether the number of sex abuse lawsuits against the Scouts has surged or declined in recent years as the organization has instituted child protection measures, including forbidding a single adult volunteer from being alone with a single child.

    The organization expressed uneasiness about the Supreme Court opinion. In a video posted on its website, Chief Scouting Executive Bob Mazzuca said: "We have kept these files confidential because we believe victims deserve protection and that confidentiality encourages prompt reporting of questionable behavior. It removes the fear of retribution and ensures victims and their families the privacy that they deserve."

    It's unclear if the court's decision will have wider implications in other cases. The court ruled that not everything a jury sees -- such as names of sex abuse victims -- is public.

    That could open the door for trial courts to keep exhibits from being released to the public even if they were discussed or flashed on screens during open court.

    Charles Hinkle, an attorney representing the news organizations, said he was pleased that the files will be released, but he was disappointed with the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Oregon Constitution.

    "The state constitution prohibits 'secret' courts, and the Court held today that this provision does not guarantee that the public has a right to see the evidence that a jury sees when it decides a case," Hinkle wrote in an email. "Courts should not be permitted to base their decisions on secret evidence, but the Supreme Court today ruled that the Oregon Constitution does not prohibit that possibility."

    Trial courts around the country are considering dozens of cases that include sensitive court exhibits that people or corporations want to keep private, said Peter Janci, one of the Portland attorneys involved the local lawsuit. "I think this (the Supreme Court opinion) is going to be closely studied by other judges," he said.

    -- Aimee Green;

  2. #2
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    They should have given those kids bigger sharper knives.
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  3. #3
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    Good God thats awful. Nothing creeps me out more than some weirdo Scout leader that has no kids himself and has been "mentoring" young boys for 20 years.

  4. #4
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    The whole organization is just all kinds of creepy. Honestly wonder if I would even let my kid participate.
    No Roger, No Rerun, No Rent

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by OldLarry View Post
    The whole organization is just all kinds of creepy. Honestly wonder if I would even let my kid participate.
    Who even joins these days?

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    Seriously... is there any more convenient "job" for a male homosexual child predator? I'm amazed that you all are amazed.

  7. #7
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    Were any of you in Scouts?

    While I find these stories as horrible as you, I do have a different perspective.

    I have 2 girls, so I will never be able to volunteer in Scouts. I really wish I could.
    It was some of the best times I have ever had. I learned more from Scouts than I did from school.
    I am sad that I can't share any of that knowledge with some kid that doesn't have a chance to learn it from anywhere but Scouts.

    That said, BSA has made some shitty moves over the past 10-15 years. I do not agree with many of their recent moves.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Benny Profane View Post
    Who even joins these days?
    Well, lots of kids applying to the service academies are often Eagle Scouts. University admission boards all count Eagle Scout as a definite plus when considering applications from prospective students. The cover up sucks, covering it up only makes a fucked up situation worse.

    Having been involved in scouting with my son and several of his friends the experiences they had were definitely great. Creepy isn't what I saw in the years of trips all over the country to Wyoming, New Mexico, Northern Tier and all the other numerous camping and hiking trips my sons troop participated in.

    Shit goes on like that everywhere unfortunately. Again, that doesn't square at all with trying to cover it up. These fucking predators are in every walk of life and as kids orgs are full of kids....that's just bait for these clever POS to latch onto. Football, baseball, hockey leagues, all organized sports, clergy, school teachers. I think all these organizations do what they can to mitigate public scrutiny of incidents that occur.
    "You damn colonials and your herds of tax write off dressage ponies". PNWBrit

  9. #9
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    My oldest is a brownie- all pretty sweet and innocent stuff, if a little dorky.

    Some stuff seems a little Hitler Youth-esque, though if anything it leans way conservative/patriotic rather than Pro-abortion/go on and make the choice to be a slut kinda stuff that the GSA has been accused of recently.
    No Roger, No Rerun, No Rent

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by OSECS View Post
    Well, lots of kids applying to the service academies are often Eagle Scouts. University admission boards all count Eagle Scout as a definite plus when considering applications from prospective students.
    I still put it on my resume. You never know who is reading it. If they are an Eagle, I get an interview. Luckily, haven't needed it for 16 years. Another thing scouts taught me.

    Creepy is a weird way to look at it. Do you think Norman Rockwell's scout paintings are creepy? If anything, they are extremely patriotic and Americana.
    Now, I agree that the BSA is far from the images once depicted in those paintings, but what I am sort of seeing is that some of you think even that forgotten image of Scouting is somehow bad too. Am I reading into it too much?

    I wish they could get back to that image. It is the organization that I knew.
    This all started when they fired the gay troop leader in NJ. That was a BS move.
    They have been a target ever since, so all this old stuff will be brought to light.
    It could get really ugly, especially if there is money to be won.

  11. #11
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    I was an altar boy and Boy Scout (Eagle!) growing up. And I didn’t even get a leering glance from a scout leader or priest, and certainly never sodomized. Nothing! I mean, throw a kid a bone for christsakes!

    I think I looked cute in my vestments and the way I wore my merit badge sash draped over one shoulder was kind of sexy. Was it me?

  12. #12
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    My former assistant Scoutmaster is in prison for life. Beat his wife to death.

  13. #13
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    As with any volunteer organization the creepy people can get in. The Boy scouts were slow to react as most agencies were 20-30 years ago. The current sign up for leaders requires a complete background check that makes my current employer who deals with military contracts pale. I work with the scouts quite a bit. I got pulled in when my son was that age and they still call me quite often for help etc....

    Honestly, I would not be 'in to the outdoors' like I am now if it had not been for the BSA as a youth. Coming from a rather cash poor enviornment my parents could not have provided many of the opportunities that enriched my life as a youth. As I work with the kids today, the youth need the outdoor experience. Many times these kids haven't seen a fire, know how to start one and I've seen kids stare at an axe like it was an alien. Many come from enviornments much like mine that would not have allowed them to experience anything outside their shambles of a home and I believe most come out better for it as I did.

    It appears to me that many who condemn the scouting program have never been involved and have little experience volunteering. Most people who have been truly involved in a volunteer program realize the issues. Too little funding, little support from parents and the community and the general lack of logistical support. Scouting has made the training programs so rigorous at this point that it drives volunteers away. Like most volunteer organizations the quality of the program is made up of the people and most of us have faults. I think they have come a long way in improving their filtering process but I don't see any way they will entirely eliminate the possibility of pedafiles getting into the program.

    I know our local program has been blamed for vandalism etc...despite the fact that we have never been in the area. The boy scout program as a whole is a wonderful program messed up by people who make 'poor choices' and proverbially one bad apple ruins the batch.
    Driving to Targhee

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Parvo View Post
    I was an altar boy and Boy Scout (Eagle!) growing up. And I didn’t even get a leering glance from a scout leader or priest, and certainly never sodomized. Nothing! I mean, throw a kid a bone for christsakes!

    I think I looked cute in my vestments and the way I wore my merit badge sash draped over one shoulder was kind of sexy. Was it me?
    pics? You know, for research and stuff.

  15. #15
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    Also an Eagle Scout.

    I liked the Scouts, where else do you have boys from 11-18 in one group? Those older Scouts taught me to drink and smoke pot at 13.

    I had my son in the Cub Scouts for ~3 years before I pulled the plug, and because I was the Eagle Scout naturally that meant I had to be the leader of the group. Not so bad herding around 6-8yro's and trying to get them outside as much as possible, but I also had to go to the regional assembly meetings and the the Scout leadership at the regional level pretty much creeped me out.
    Move upside and let the man go through...

  16. #16
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    Parvo, don't feel bad. Maybe you just weren't their type.

  17. #17
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    With all the sexual abuse that's occurred in grade schools and universities, let's keep our kids from going to those evil establishments, too!

    It's absolutely horrible the kind of abuses that have occurred, and BSA handled it in the worst way possible. No excuse for that. That being said, I grew up in scouts, from a little Tiger Cub all the way to Eagle Scout. My experiences were awesome. I had opportunities I would have never had without the scouts. Lengthy canoe trips in Canada, wilderness camping trips in Mexico with our sister troops there (they have combined girl/boy troops there ), summer camp was freaking amazing every year, and the skills I learned in there were absolutely invaluable. Took classes on wilderness survival, wildlife conservation, lifesaving, first aid, and a ginormous myriad of other things that no normal teenager would ever otherwise. Not to mention, it opened so many doors for me after high school. Never got rejected for any job I interviewed for, got an automatic bump to E-3 when I joined the military, when I finished basic, the Air Force Academy liaison at Lackland AFB was trying his best to get me to join the Academy (I declined because I had a fun enlisted aircrew career lined up), and it continues to work well for my civilian career.

    I really hate seeing what's happened, and the way it's tarnished the Scouts' reputation. Hope they fess up to handling it poorly, get the mess over with, and move forward. It truly was a great organization when my grandfather was in, when my dad was in, and when I was in.

  18. #18
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    I'm an Eagle Scout, and proud to be so. All of our "Leaders" were the scouts' parents. So the mix of leaders were between Lawyers, Doctors, Mechanics, 'Nam Vets...We had an excellent troop that did some crazy shit during our run.

    The sex abuse is within BSofA horrible, and I wish the SBofA would have been more transparent about the issue. That was never an issue for our troop or any troop I was aware of in our district.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by cooltsi View Post
    Honestly, I would not be 'in to the outdoors' like I am now if it had not been for the BSA as a youth. Coming from a rather cash poor enviornment my parents could not have provided many of the opportunities that enriched my life as a youth. As I work with the kids today, the youth need the outdoor experience. Many times these kids haven't seen a fire, know how to start one and I've seen kids stare at an axe like it was an alien. Many come from enviornments much like mine that would not have allowed them to experience anything outside their shambles of a home and I believe most come out better for it as I did.
    So true. I grew up in the middle of the big city, and to make it worse...in Texas. Many of the kids in my troop were from very poor families. Gave me and the others an appreciation for the great outdoors that I don't know how we would've been otherwise. How many poor inner-city kids do you know that would have these high adventure and wilderness opportunities without the scouts?

  20. #20
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    My brothers boyfriend was an eagle scout. He's a FLAMING turd burglar.

  21. #21
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    I'm an Eagle Scout; I had a blast in scouting, all the way up until I turned 18. I have absolutely no regrets. I do think the organization is pretty fucked up, but back in the 70's and 80's, the anti-gay hate and molesting wasn't as obvious (at least to my developing brain).

    But it was definitely going on; My scoutmaster was gay (married, but everyone knew the real score); we were affiliated with a catholic church, whose priests would often accompany us on outings. Turns out one of them was molesting a friend of mine (I found this out much later in life).

  22. #22
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    I was almost an eagle scout - never had the discipline to sit down and finish all the badges. The best part about scouting was the camping/hikinh/rafting trips anyways. It would be nice to put eagle on a resume, but I have some wonderful memories and valuable outdoor skills instead - so I feel like it's still a win. Not to mention making some probably life-long friends.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Flyoverland Captive View Post
    I'm an Eagle Scout; I had a blast in scouting, all the way up until I turned 18. I have absolutely no regrets. I do think the organization is pretty fucked up, but back in the 70's and 80's, the anti-gay hate and molesting wasn't as obvious (at least to my developing brain).

    But it was definitely going on; My scoutmaster was gay (married, but everyone knew the real score); we were affiliated with a catholic church, whose priests would often accompany us on outings. Turns out one of them was molesting a friend of mine (I found this out much later in life).
    wow- a priest along for the ride on boyscout trip? Were there any asst football coaches from penn state there, too? wtf?
    No Roger, No Rerun, No Rent

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    Seemed normal at the time; the church sponsored the troop, letting us use a local catholic grade-school's auditorium for meetings and gear storage. Father Lee used to show up at various campouts, usually spending at least one night. I always thought priests were creepy, so I avoided him, thus keeping my nubile young body pure (what I did to it in college is another matter entirely.)

    I do recall one troop leader who didn't have a kid in the troop; I thought that was a little odd...

  25. #25
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    I had fun as a cub scout. Tried boy scouts for a year or so, wasn't as fun, they took everything too seriously, like you're in the army or something.

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