It was the start of a frightening, years-long ordeal for the Boy Scout, that would see him allegedly molested, raped and even starved of oxygen during successive summer camps. I'd have flashbacks and nightmares."ĪARON Averhart was just 12 when he says he was first abused by Scout camp staff leader William Sheehan, who sneaked into his tent in south-west Florida and 'dry-humped' him. "I was lucky to have a school counsellor who really helped me not to take my life," she recalls. Yet for the next decade, she says she suffered in silence, battling suicidal thoughts aged 12 and pushing away any teenage crushes who tried to be physically intimate with her. It was only when Mary was six that the abuse ended, when her family moved out of the area. Today, the organisation has expert-informed policies to "keep kids safe", including mandatory background checks and a ban on one-on-one interactions between children and adults. Many of the new lawsuits date back to the 1960s, '70s and '80s, and accuse the BSA of negligence and cover-ups. More than 12,000 boys have been molested by 7,800 abusers since the 1920s, according to Boy Scout files revealed in court papers. “While we know nothing can undo the tragic abuse that victims suffered, we believe the Chapter 11 process – with the proposed Trust structure – will provide equitable compensation to all victims while maintaining the BSA’s important mission.” "We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to harm innocent children. "The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologises to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting," said Roger Mosby, President and Chief Executive Officer. Many of the lawsuits have been made possible by recent changes in state laws to allow people to sue over long-ago sex abuse.īankruptcy will enable the BSA to put the cases on hold for now and continue operating - for, what it hopes will be, years to come - as it strives to "compensate victims who were harmed during their time in Scouting". Scores of men are seeking settlements, claiming to have been molested as youngsters decades ago by scoutmasters, leaders and other scouts. FOUNDED in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has been a pillar of American civic life for generations.īut this week, the historic organisation announced it had filed for bankruptcy protection in the first step toward creating a massive compensation fund for potentially thousands of sex abuse victims.
0 kommentar(er)
