The trial provided a rare opportunity for a U.S. jury to view confidential BSA records, even though the BSA had fought to keep the records secret. They showed that BSA`s knowledge of abuse dates back to the 1920s. [22] The Scouts have reportedly settled about 60 similar historical cases out of court in the United States in recent years. [8] In 2010, attorneys Paul Mones and Kelly Clark of Portland, Oregon, won a $19.9 million lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America filed by a former Scout who had been sexually abused by his Scout leader in the mid-1980s. [23] [24] This decision led to the publication of the „perversion records“ that had been kept by the Scouts for about ninety years. The files, published for the period from 1965 to 1985, described the sexual abuse of Scouts by their adult leaders. [25] [26] In December, a judge in purdue Pharma struck down a proposed settlement and questioned the legality of compensation awarded to the Sackler family, owners of the OxyContin manufacturer. The U.S. trustee in this case had long opposed broad family protection.
In Michigan, a consolidation of local Scout councils that began a decade ago has led to the sale of many properties, including Silver Trails, a 269-acre camp located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Port Huron. A group called the Thumb Land Conservancy tried to buy it in 2019, but lost when scouts sold it to a gravel mining company. A recent letter from a Louisiana BSA official to the BSA`s National Human Resources Department revealed, „This issue and the Scouts have not been prosecuted to save the Scouts` names. [31] [32] The records revealed cases of collusion between the BSA and the judicial system, such as in a 1962 case in Johnston, PA[33] in which a BSA leader pleaded guilty to committing „serious moral“ violations involving Scouts. A local Scout leader learned of the abuse of a local council member who served as mayor and police chief. The newspapers did not report the link to the Scouts because, as the board wrote in a statement to the human resources department of BSA National, „there was no mention of the Scouts involved in the case, as two of the three judges who announced the verdict are members of our board of directors.“ [34] The records include a 1972 BSA executive who wrote, „I want to drop this case. A father has threatened to take legal action that could only harm the Boy Scouts of America. My personal opinion in this particular case is, „If it doesn`t stink, don`t stir it.“ [35] [36] The settlement, which was reached after the organization filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year as it faced rising legal fees due to abuse claims, is one of the largest of its kind in a child sexual abuse case in U.S.
history. The lawsuit involved more than 84,000 people who claimed the sexual abuse dates back to the 1960s. Joe, a victim who didn`t want his last name to be used because his family doesn`t know his experience, was abused by his Scout master as early as age 8 in the 1970s in a Connecticut camp that was sold years ago to make way for shelters on Candlewood Lake. It is not certain that people will camp on lands where Scouts have already been mistreated. The plan also includes commitments to keep Scouts safe, including: The proposed bankruptcy settlement with Boys Scouts of America would result in its more than 250 boards contributing at least $515 million in cash and property, as well as a $100 million interest-bearing note. Kosnoff said the Scouts will have to sell much of their land to help with national unification or, if they fail, to pay for ongoing litigation. The deal — the first legal settlement in a litany of lawsuits against Scouts — is more than double the group`s initial proposal to victims in March. The organization faces approximately 275 abuse lawsuits and 1,400 potential claims. „I am pleased that BSA and its local councils are the first to compensate survivors,“ Rothweiler said in a statement. „We will now negotiate with insurers and sponsorship and charter organizations that have billions of dollars in legal risks, a significant portion of which is needed to fairly compensate survivors.“ In total, the compensation fund would amount to more than $2.6 billion, which would be the largest aggregate sexual abuse regime in U.S. history. However, the average recovery per claimant would be significantly lower than other comparisons of sexual abuse scandals involving a large number of victims.
The University of Southern California, for example, last year agreed to an $852 million settlement with more than 700 women who accused a longtime gynecologist on campus of sexual abuse. In 2010, a jury ordered Scouts to pay $18.5 million to a Scout who was abused in the 1980s — the biggest punitive damage for a single plaintiff in a child abuse case in the United States. [8] Desai was also asked about the $266 million the BSA has spent so far on bankruptcy fees – money that will not be available to compensate victims of abuse.
