Close to 90,000 sexual abuse claims had been filed against the Boy Scouts of America on Monday as the deadline arrived for submitting claims in the organization’s bankruptcy case.
The number far exceeded the initial projections of lawyers across the US, who had been signing up clients since the scouts filed for bankruptcy protection in February in the face of hundreds of lawsuits alleging decades-old sexual abuse by group leaders.
“We are devastated by the number of lives impacted by past abuse in Scouting and moved by the bravery of those who have come forward,” the scouts said in a statement. “We are heartbroken that we cannot undo their pain.”
Photo: AFP
A few hours before the deadline, the number of claims totaled 88,500, lawyers said.
Eventually, the proceedings in federal bankruptcy court would lead to the creation of a compensation fund to pay abuse survivors whose claims are upheld.
The potential size of the fund is not yet known and is to be the subject of complex negotiations. The national organization is expected to contribute a substantial portion of its assets, which include financial investments and real estate.
The scouts’ insurers also would be contributing, as would the organization’s about 260 local councils and companies that insured them in the past.
Andrew Van Arsdale, a lawyer with a network called Abused in Scouting, said that it has signed up about 16,000 claimants. He said that number doubled after the scouts, under the supervision of a bankruptcy judge, launched a nationwide advertising campaign on Aug. 31 to notify victims that they had until Monday to seek compensation.
“They spent millions trying to encourage people to come forward,” Van Arsdale said. “Now, the question is whether they can make good on their commitment.”
The scouts said it “intentionally developed an open, accessible process to reach survivors and help them take an essential step toward receiving compensation.”
“The response we have seen from survivors has been gut-wrenching,” the organization added. “We are deeply sorry.”
Most of the pending sexual abuse claims date to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, before the organization adopted criminal background checks, abuse prevention training for all staff and volunteers, and a rule that two or more adult leaders must be present during activities.
Among the contentious issues still to be addressed in the bankruptcy case is the extent to which the local councils contribute to the compensation fund.
In its bankruptcy filing, the national organization said the councils, which have extensive property holdings and other assets, are separate legal entities and should not be included as debtors in the case.
Lawyer Paul Mones, who won a US$19.9 million sexual abuse verdict against the organization in Oregon in 2010, said that painstaking work lies ahead to determine which insurers were responsible for coverage of the national organization and the local councils over the decades.
“The number of claims is mind-boggling,” Mones said, adding that many abuse victims likely have not come forward.
“It’s chilling in terms of the amount of horror that was experienced,” he said.
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