Hundreds of former Boy Scouts come forward with new claims of sexual abuse
More than 200 individuals have come forward with new allegations of sexual abuse by members of the Boy Scouts of America in recent weeks as a trio of law firms seek to uncover unidentified child abusers.
Advised by Tim Kosnoff, an attorney who has litigated more than a thousand cases of sexual misconduct against organizations such as the Scouts and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the group of attorneys has identified 150 alleged pedophiles never before publicly accused.
The law firms began running TV and Google ads encouraging victims to sign on as clients for a potential lawsuit after a report in December that Boy Scouts of America had prepared for a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
On Tuesday, Minnesota-based attorney Jeff Anderson, named 130 leaders from the Boy Scouts of America in New York who have been accused of sexual abuse, including more than a dozen from communities in the Rochester area.They include:
- Blakeslee, James L. (Rochester)
- Bouchard, Stephen C. (Rochester)
- Davis, Francis E. (Walworth)
- Dean, Alan Miles (Marion)
- Dingman, Kenneth Allan (Albion)
- Duncan, Frank Edward (Rochester)
- Germeo, Gary R. (Holley)
- Harper, Arthur or Bud (Rochester)
- King, David W. (Webster)
- Miller, Eugene D. (Marion)
- Olivieri, Albert J. (Rochester)
- Parker, William Charles (Medina)
- Rex, John L. Jr. (Pittsford)
The volume already gathered could double the number of cases the organization already is facing, although a bankruptcy would halt existing and future litigation, the attorneys told USA TODAY.
In a statement about the new allegations, Scouts BSA said, "Any incident of child abuse is one too many, and nothing is more important than the safety and protection of children in our Scouting programs."
Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings can encourage people to file sexual-abuse claims and provide a means to resolve them.
The Jesuit order in the northwestern United States, which had filed for bankruptcy protection, agreed in 2011 to pay $166 million to settle more than 500 claims by victims of sexual abuse. The North American branch of the Irish Christian Brothers, which filed bankruptcy in 2011, paid $16 million to more than 400 sexual-abuse victims two years later.
Kosnoff and his colleagues said a bankruptcy filing by the Boy Scouts would have a chilling effect on victims' ability to expose predators who are a threat to their communities. The number of victims who have signed on since last month is evidence for the Seattle-based attorney that many more have yet to step forward.
“That’s proof that we’ve barely scratched the surface,” Kosnoff said. He added that FBI research has shown that each "perpetrator has over 100 victims over a lifetime of offending.”
The Boy Scouts have been dogged by abuse allegations since a landmark case in 2010 that ended with an $18.5 million damage award and the release of more than 20,000 confidential documents, dubbed the “perversion files.”
Those records revealed that the 100-year-old organization had long kept track of suspected and known abusers — banning more than 1,000 leaders and volunteers between 1965 to 1985. But the records also showed the Scouts had rarely, if ever, reported those individuals to police.
Those files included the names of more than 30 people in the Rochester area.
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The Boy Scouts joined institutions such as Michigan State University in lobbying against efforts to extend statutes of limitations, proposed in the wake of the Larry Nassar case and #MeToo movement, that would allow victims of sexual abuse more time to come forward and seek damages.
States have been moving in recent months to adjust their statute-of-limitations laws so that victims of long-ago sexual abuse can sue for damages. New York state has passed a law that will allow such lawsuits starting in August. A similar bill in New Jersey has reached the governor’s desk. Bills also are pending in Pennsylvania and California.
In New York and elsewhere, lawyers are hard at work recruiting clients to sue the Boy Scouts, alleging they were molested as youths by scoutmasters or other volunteers.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers “recognize that this is a very unique and lucrative opportunity,” said attorney Karen Bitar, who formerly handled sex-crime cases as a prosecutor in Brooklyn before going into private practice.
In response to those proposals, “organizations like BSA and the Catholic Church are now taking legal maneuvers to try to prevent victims from bringing these cases,” Rothweiler said.
Bankruptcy would create a limited window for victims to file claims. Those filings would be confidential, meaning names of perpetrators would not be made public. Afterward, Scouts BSA would emerge as a reorganized debtor and would not have to face civil litigation for — or negative publicity about — claims of wrongdoing.
“That’s why they’re going into bankruptcy, not because they don’t have the money," Kosnoff said. "They’re going into bankruptcy to hide, to hide these dirty secrets.”
In a statement, the Boy Scouts asked anyone who has been harmed to call the Scouts First Helpline at (844) 726-8871 or email scouts1st@scouting.org.
CARAKELLY@USAToday.com
SLAHMAN@Gannett.com
Includes reporting by staff writer Steve Orr and Associated Press reporter David Crary