The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters over two decades and often left parents in the dark as a means to save face, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.
After reviewing 1,600 confidential files dated between 1970 and 1991 from the century-old organization, the Times found more than 500 instances in which the Scouts learned of abuse directly from boys, parents, staff or anonymous tips, rather than after the incidents were reported to the authorities.
In about 80 percent of those cases, there was no record of the Scouts reporting the abuse claims to authorities. The Times also found that officials actively sought to hide the allegations or allowed the suspects to conceal the abuse claims in more than 100 of the cases.
Although the organization, which counts nearly 4 million adult and youth members, has long sought to keep the “perversion files” out of public view, it could face a damning wave of lawsuits and bad publicity in the coming weeks as the records are set to be released.
The Oregon Supreme Court has ordered the public release of about 1,200 files dating from 1965 to 1985, including some reviewed by the newspaper.
Scouting officials told the Times that in many cases, they covered up the allegations to spare young victims from embarrassment. However, some of the alleged molesters then went on to abuse other children, according to Scouts documents and court records cited by the Times.
In one example cited by the newspaper, a Maryland troop leader who confirmed allegations of abuse made against him was given six weeks to leave and told he could give his associates “whatever reason that he chose” to resign.
An official was quoted as saying in the troop leader’s file that the move gave him the opportunity to leave in a “graceful manner,” adding that the senior Scout was reminded that he had agreed to keep the matter secret.
In response to the article, the organization issued an apology to the victims and stressed it had always cooperated with the authorities. Since 2010, the Scouts require officials to report even suspicion of abuse to local authorities.
“The Boy Scouts of America believes that one instance of abuse is far too many,” spokesman Deron Smith told reporters. “We regret there have been times when despite the BSA’s best efforts to protect children, Scouts were abused, and for that we are very sorry and extend our deepest sympathies to victims.”
The organization, founded in 1910, is best known for promoting outdoor activities and community service for boys aged seven to 21.
In July, it reaffirmed a ban on openly gay members and leaders after a secret review, despite calls to overturn it.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
The pitch is a classic: A young celebrity with no climbing experience spends a year in hard training and scales Mount Everest, succeeding against some — if not all — odds. French YouTuber Ines Benazzouz, known as Inoxtag, brought the story to life with a two-hour-plus documentary about his year preparing for the ultimate challenge. The film, titled Kaizen, proved a smash hit on its release last weekend. Young fans queued around the block to get into a preview screening in Paris, with Inoxtag’s management on Monday saying the film had smashed the box office record for a special cinema
RSS