Boys Scouts' Accusers Want Abuse Details Revealed in Bankruptcy
February 19 2020 - 8:21PM
Dow Jones News
By Peg Brickley
WILMINGTON, Del. -- As the Boy Scouts of America hurries to
emerge from bankruptcy and put allegations of sexual abuse to rest,
lawyers for victims want the organization's "dark side" revealed in
its bankruptcy proceedings.
With billions of dollars worth of land, buildings, cash and
investments to protect, the Boy Scouts appeared for the first time
on Wednesday before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, where
a lawyer for the organization, Jessica Boelter, said it recognized
the harm endured by victims of childhood sexual abuse.
The bankruptcy filing is designed to resolve allegations of
sexual abuse in 275 existing lawsuits and from thousands of more
people who haven't filed papers in court.
"We need to move through this bankruptcy as quickly as
possible," Ms. Boelter told a packed courtroom.
Lawyers for abuse victims said they are looking to the
bankruptcy process as a way to find out more about circumstances
surrounding allegations of widespread abuse of boys as young as 5
years old by scoutmasters and others connected to the
organization.
"We're not here because the Boy Scouts do a great job at taking
care of boys or training boys," said James Stang, a lawyer for
sexual-abuse survivors. "There's a very dark side to their
history."
He said the 10 law firms he advises are representing "probably
more than 2,700 men" combined, some of which are elderly, sick or
have pressing psychological counseling needs."
The legacy of abuse didn't all occur a long time ago, according
to other victims' lawyers who spoke in bankruptcy court. Two
lawyers said they had teenage clients, implying the abuse continued
after the group put special protections in place in recent
years.
Victims' lawyers are pushing for the disclosure of a list of
more than 7,800 alleged pedophiles contained in the organization's
internal files, known within the Boy Scouts as ineligible
volunteers. In lawsuits, the documents became known as the
perversion files.
Some names have surfaced in lawsuits over the years, brought
into court as evidence that the Boy Scouts knew that children were
being abused and failed to act. The entire list, however, has never
been revealed.
"Make sure those names are made public so that the communities
can know and kids can be saved," said Mike Finnegan, a lawyer who
represents 250 men who say they were abused as children during Boy
Scouts activities.
In court Wednesday, Mr. Finnegan questioned whether the files on
ineligible volunteers would be included in a database set up by the
Boy Scouts to exchange closely held financial information with
bankruptcy creditors.
Paul Mones, a lawyer who represented a former Boy Scout in an
Oregon case a decade ago that spurred the release of some of the
files, told the court he had heard from "confused, upset and angry
men" after the Boy Scouts entered bankruptcy.
Studies have shown many survivors suppress memories of their
abuse for decades, struggling with depression, alcohol abuse and
other problems stemming from their experiences. After preparing
themselves to put their claims against the Boy Scouts before a
jury, survivors were shocked and angered when the organization
filed for bankruptcy, several lawyers said.
Going to trial "was a real commitment to them, and it was
really, really difficult," said Gilion Dumas, a victims' attorney
who was scheduled to pick a jury in Oregon on Friday before the Boy
Scouts sought chapter 11 protection.
The chapter 11 filing automatically froze pending lawsuits
against the Boy Scouts, though not against the 261 local scouting
councils spread across the country, which in many instances are
also being sued by abuse victims but didn't file for
bankruptcy.
The Boy Scouts are seeking to prevent the lawsuits from going
forward against the local councils, which account for about 70% of
the organization's wealth, according to a Wall Street Journal
analysis. The group wants to move the claims out of state courts
and into a closed-door mediation in which lawyers can attempt to
hash out a settlement.
"Just as they didn't have control over the situation when they
were abused as children, they don't have control anymore," Ms.
Dumas said.
Write to Peg Brickley at peg.brickley@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 19, 2020 20:06 ET (01:06 GMT)
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