A coalition of law firms says it has evidence the Boy Scouts of America missed hundreds of cases of sexual assault in its organization dating back decades.
Abused in Scouting is a group of attorneys founded to represent the victims of abuse in the Boy Scouts. The group filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania on Monday that contains hundreds of allegations of abuse from just one person, identified as S.D., according to the Washington Post.
Abused in Scouting has also compiled a database of hundreds of other victims ranging from ages 14 to 88. Many of the alleged incidents took place decades ago and the victims are just now coming forward to tell their stories.
“BSA knew for decades that sexual predators of boys had infiltrated scouting,” the lawsuit says. The Boy Scouts of America “knew or should have known the dangers” of sexual predators working with boys across the organization.
S.D. is now 57 years old. The lawsuit alleges that, beginning in the mid-1970s, an assistant scoutmaster committed “hundreds of instances of fondling, hundreds of incidents of oral sexual assault and repeated attempts of anal penetration” against S.D. The incidents took place at a Boy Scouts’ retreat and at the assistant scoutmaster’s home.
Boy Scouts of America keeps files on thousands of people connected with the organization that are accused of sexually harassing or abusing scouts. Abused in Scouting says it has uncovered about 350 people not included in the Boy Scout’s files.
Boy Scouts of America was reportedly weighing bankruptcy in December 2018 over legal fees resulting from sexual harassment and abuse cases. The organization has not confirmed whether or not it is planning on announcing bankruptcy.
