Realityof BSA’s “Perversion Files”
StephenDean Bohrer
In February 1915 the House Judiciary Committee recommendedpassage of House Resolution 755, that would provide a charter to the nascentBoy Scouts of America (BSA) noting “ . . . that the Scouting movement ‘tends toconserve the moral, intellectual, and physical life of the coming generation,and in its immediate results does much to reduce the problem of juveniledelinquency in the cities[1].’”The US Congress Charter approved a year later states that, “The purposes of the corporation [Boy Scouts ofAmerica] are to promote, through organization, and cooperation with otheragencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to trainthem in scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, andkindred virtues, using the methods that were in common use by boy scouts onJune 15, 1916[2].”
The Boy Scouts of America have registered some 104,000,000Scouts and over 18,000,000 adult leaders [extrapolated] in its 103-yearhistory. There are more than 1,000,000 adult volunteers at any one time[3]and approximately 2,600,000 Boy and Cub Scouts.
Over the past several months (October 2012 through January2013) the nation’s major papers have published numerous articles regardingpedophiles that have been involved with Boy Scouts. The articles and theirallegations are familiar to this writer as I’ve watched the challenge of the tenetsof the Boy Scouts of America be assaulted on and off nearly my whole life (65years).
+Paul Mones, an attorney for a molested Scout in Oregon, filed a case that resulted in 2010 in a court order to open files the BSA hadcollected on thousands of adult volunteer leaders accused of assaulting Scouts.The case just recently resulted in an award of $1.4M compensatory damages and 17.1Min punitive damages.
In truth, “The [court ordered release of] files [from1965-1985] broadly refute the notion that these were secret files of hiddenabuse. The files show a significant amount of public knowledge of the offendersand their unlawful acts. For example, more than 60 percent of the files beingmade available to the public include some kind of public information[4].” This at a time when there was no mandatoryreporting. They can be found in a database byorder of the Oregon Supreme Court in October 2010[5].The files, which have been redacted of victims' names and other identifyinginformation, are now easily available on the Internet.
The attorney in the Oregon case, “ . . . said in courtthat the files detailed many instances across the country in which troopleaders or volunteers were allowed to continue working with children even afterthe Scouts had received complaints that they had committed sexual abuse[6].”When the incident was brought to the BSA’s attention, the case shows action wastaken to remove the adult from scouting.
It appears the Boy Scouts too often failedto notify local law enforcement when allegations arose, but at the time of theoffense notification to the police may not have been required.
The “BSA continues to do what it has always doneconcerning these confidential files, which is to resist their release into thepublic eye[7].”While that is the preference of BSA it must be noted that when not required toreport, doing so would undoubtedly expose BSA to defamation lawsuits. The BSAbegan collecting such “Perversion Files” sometime shortly after the requirementfor annually renewable registration of Scout leaders was first implementedin1911[8].Since at least 1919, the Boy Scouts of Americahas maintained “ineligible volunteer” files intended to keep sexual abusers,among others, out of its ranks. The BSA has closely held the records, and contendsthat confidentiality is essential to protect victims, witnesses and anyonefalsely accused.
The BSA President Wayne Perry (a volunteer) and BSA'sDirector of Youth Protection, Mike Johnson, both expressed regret and promisedthat issues of the past are not a reflection of today's BSA[9].BSA officials admit they should have done a better job of protecting the safetyof Scouts and have put into place several programs that are all encompassingand strictly adhered to. Two-deep leadership[10]means Scouts are never left alone with just one adult leader and everyone evenremotely involved in Scouting as a volunteer must take a Youth Protection classand pass a test on its tenants.
I can only imagine the pain that many Scouts contend withdaily. I regret that Scouting did not do a better job of protecting itsmembers. I don’t believe though that the problem is as rampant as the attorneysthat make their living suing the BSA make it appear. I believe in the missionof Scouting[11]and believe that with continuous improvement the organization can rise abovethe torture of pedophilia and proudly celebrate another 100 years of turning boysinto men.
[1]Scott, D. C., & Murphy, B. (2010). The ScoutingParty: Pioneering and Preservation, Progressivism and Preparedness in theMaking of the Boy Scouts of America. Irving, TX: Red Honor Press. Page 193.
[2]Ashort quote from the charter approved by the US Congress on June 15, 1916.Downloaded January 17, 2013 at http://usscouts.org/aboutbsa/bsacharter.asp
[4]DownloadedJanuary 17, 2013 at http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/BSAYouthProtection/BSA_Communications/IVLetter.aspx
[5]http://spreadsheets.latimes.com/boyscouts-cases/
[8]DownloadedJanuary 17, 2013 at http://www.scouting.org/filestore/youthprotection/pdf/WarrenReportSummary.pdf
[9]DownloadedJanuary 17, 2013 at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/Boy-Scouts-Of-America-Talking-Publicly-About-Abuse--174294141.html
[10]DownloadedJanuary 23, 2013 at http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/GSS/gss01.aspx
[11]The mission of the Boy Scouts of America isto prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimesby instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.Downloaded January 23, 2013 at http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/mission.aspx
