[Vision2020] Boy Scout files reveal repeat abuse, report says

Mon Aug 6 12:52:45 PDT 2012

Gee Tom, I wonder who it could be.  Maybe you could post a link or two to
help me figure it out.  If there any links pointing to a letter describing
an incident with a two year old, that would maybe narrow it down a bit.

Puzzled,

w.

On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 7:41 AM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> An anti-gay organization that shelters child abusers?
>
> Gee, Wayne.  That sounds somewhat very familiar.
>
> Nah!  Nothing like that could happen here in Moscow . . . huh.
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "If not us, who?
> If not now, when?"
>
> - Unknown
>
> On Aug 6, 2012, at 7:29 AM, Art Deco <art.deco.studios at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>      <http://www.spokesman.com/> August 6, 2012
> Boy Scout files reveal repeat abuse, report says
> Jason Felch
> Los Angeles Times
>
> LOS ANGELES – For nearly a century, the Boy Scouts of America has relied
> on a confidential blacklist known as the “perversion files” as a crucial
> line of defense against sexual predators.
>
> Scouting officials say they’ve used the files to prevent hundreds of men
> who had been expelled for alleged sexual abuse from returning to the ranks.
> They’ve fought hard in court to keep the records from public view, saying
> confidentiality was needed to protect victims, witnesses and anyone
> falsely accused.
>
> “It is a fact that Scouts are safer because the barrier created by these
> files is real,” Scouts Chief Executive Robert Mazzuca said in video posted
> on the organization’s website in June.
>
> That barrier, however, has been breached repeatedly.
>
> A Los Angeles Times review of more than 1,200 files dating from 1970 to
> 1991 found more than 125 cases across the country in which men allegedly
> continued to molest Scouts after the organization was first presented with
> detailed allegations of abusive behavior.
>
> Predators slipped back into the program by falsifying personal information
> or skirting the registration process. Others were able to jump from troop
> to troop around the country thanks to clerical errors, computer glitches or
> the Scouts’ failure to check the blacklist.
>
> In some cases, officials failed to document reports of abuse in the first
> place, letting offenders stay in the organization until new allegations
> surfaced. In others, officials documented abuse but merely suspended the
> accused leader or allowed him to continue working with boys while
> on “probation.”
>
> In at least 50 cases, the Boy Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only to
> discover later that they had re-entered the program and were accused of
> molesting again.
>
> “Basically, there were no controls,” said Bill Dworin, a retired Los
> Angeles police expert on child sexual abuse who reviewed hundreds of the
> files as a witness for an Oregon man abused by his troop leader in
> the 1980s.
>
> In response to the Times’ findings, the Scouts issued a statement that
> said in part:
>
> “The Boy Scouts of America believes even a single instance of abuse is
> unacceptable, and we regret there have been times when the BSA’s best
> efforts to protect children were insufficient. For that we are very sorry
> and extend our deepest sympathies to victims. … We are committed to the
> ongoing enhancement of our program, in line with evolving best practices
> for protecting youth.”
>
> The Scouts have maintained “ineligible volunteer” files in one form or
> another since at least 1919 to keep track of men who failed to meet
> Scouting’s moral standards. Files that involved allegations of child sexual
> abuse were dubbed “perversion files.” A master list of those banned from
> Scouting has been computerized since 1975 and is used to vet applicants for
> volunteer and paid positions.
>
> Only a select few in Scouting have access to the files, which are kept in
> 15 locked cabinets at Scout headquarters in Irving, Texas. But over the
> years, hundreds of the files have been admitted as evidence, usually under
> seal, in lawsuits by former Scouts alleging a pattern of abuse in
> the organization.
>
> Many of the files will soon be made public as a result of an Oregon
> Supreme Court decision. The court, in response to a petition by the
> Oregonian, the Associated Press, the New York Times and other media
> organizations, ordered the release of 1,247 files from 1965 to 1984 that
> had been admitted as evidence, under seal, in the 2010 lawsuit.
>
> In anticipation of the release, attorneys for the Boy Scouts conducted an
> informal review of 829 of the files, saying they sought to put the contents
> in perspective. The Scouts said the review found 175 instances in which the
> files prevented men who’d been banned for alleged abuse from reentering
> the program.
>
> The Times analyzed an overlapping, though broader and more recent, set of
> files, which were submitted in a California court case in 1992. Their
> contents vary but often include biographical information on the accused,
> witness statements, police reports, parent complaints, news clippings, and
> correspondence between local Boy Scout officials and national headquarters.
>
> The accounts that emerge are often incomplete. But the Scouts ultimately
> deemed the allegations sufficiently credible to expel the suspected abusers.
>
> Today, the Boy Scouts of America says it continues to use the confidential
> files as part of its efforts to prevent child abuse. In recent decades, it
> has added other protective measures. In 1988, for instance, Scouting did
> away with probation; its policy now is to expel anyone suspected in “good
> faith” of abuse. In 2008, criminal background checks were required on all
> volunteers, and in 2010 the organization required all suspected abuse to be
> reported to law enforcement.
>
> The extent to which these measures have succeeded is impossible to gauge:
> The Scouts continue to fight in court against the release of more
> recent files.
> __________________________________________
>
> No real surprises here for anyone familiar with the problem:
>
> <http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2010/03/19/21325>
> http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2010/03/19/21325
>
> <http://ldssexchildabuse.blogspot.com/>
> http://ldssexchildabuse.blogspot.com/
>
> <http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/15/34213.htm>
> http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/15/34213.htm
>
> For many, many more similar cases, Google: mormon "boy scouts" "sexual
> abuse"
>
> --
> Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
> <art.deco.studios at gmail.com>art.deco.studios at gmail.com
>
>
>
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-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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