Boy Scouts 'Perversion Files' were Kept Secret to Protect Children, Really?
Read
the report below of how many instances including one in particular were
kept secret from the public to allegedly protect children but what it
really did was cause mistrust from the parents and others in the
organization. The files claim to be a proven record they were 'handling'
abuse allegations but why did they keep it quiet from the public? This
is a covered cover-up!!
The
Eagle Tribune reports:
In
early 1977, allegations about an assistant scoutmaster having sex with
boys rocked the old St. Joseph’s Church in Haverhill, then home for Boy
Scout Troop 27.
Stories grew rampant about the 27-year-old scout
leader inviting boys to stay overnight at his home, where indecent
exposure and fondling were common. One boy accused the troop leader of
performing “an unnatural act” on him.
A father who was on the
troop committee consulted with a lawyer and the police for assistance
after reporting that his son was a victim of sexual abuse by an adult
leader
“who should not be allowed to stay in scouting.”
But
despite the controversy, police never prosecuted the assistant
scoutmaster for the alleged sexual crimes. Neither he nor the Boy Scouts
were named as defendants in any lawsuits.
When confronted by the
chairman of the troop committee, the man refused to meet with the
committee to discuss the allegations, resigned abruptly and moved out of
the city within a month.
“It was decided by the
Troop Committee, with the support of the parents of the boys that were
involved, and the Pastor of the Church that no legal action take place,” the troop committee member wrote in a letter to the national office of the Boy Scouts of America more than a year later.
Though
never criminally charged, the former Haverhill scout leader was barred
from further participation in scouting. The Boy Scouts denied his
application to be a scoutmaster in Rochester, N.Y., four years later
because his name had been placed in scouting’s ineligible volunteer
files – essentially a confidential blacklist created more than 80 years
ago to protect scouts from known or suspected abusers.
Documents
about the ex-assistant scoutmaster from Haverhill Troop 27 finally
became public last Thursday as part of 14,500 pages of the so-called
“perversion files” released by the scouts under an order of the Oregon
Supreme Court. He is one of some 1,200 alleged child molesters
throughout the nation who were privately banned from scouting for
complaints of abuse over a 20-year period from 1965 to 1985.
The files released last week contain details on proven child molesters as well as unsubstantiated allegations.
Why were the files kept secretly anyway?
“The
reason the files were kept in the first place were to prevent
recidivists from abusing scouts in one location and relocating across
the country and rejoining scouting and hurting children again,”report
said.
“That (Haverhill case) shows that in at least that instance,
the safeguards were successful. They did what they were supposed to do.
This individual was flagged and was prohibited from further
participation in scouting,” he said.
“The Boy Scouts of America
have been fighting pedophilia for years and have been getting better at
it. Today, it’s a different world, and the reason is different: we have
gotten better over time of isolating these folks and preventing them
from continuing their abuse. The standards of today far exceed the
standards of 30 or 40 years ago,” he said.
Our take:
We still don't understand why they had to hide everything from the
public. Did they think they could keep it secret forever? This expose'
only shows that the Boys Scouts of America was never, ever safe for
children in many instances. We hate to see organizations be revealed as
tainted goods. It's truly a shame and a disservice to the scouts, the
parents and America!! This, our friends, is worst than the Penn State sex scandal!!
Report from the
Eagle Tribune
