The New York Times
02/18/2020 - 16:04
- Clarín.com
- World
The Boy Scouts of America , an emblematic presence in the American experience for more than a century, requested judicial protection to avoid bankruptcy in the early hours of this Tuesday, by succumbing to financial pressures that included an increase in legal costs for its management of accusations of sexual abuse .
Founded in 1910, the Boy Scout organization has long held internal archives in Texas that detail decades of accusations referring to nearly 8,000 "responsible," according to a specialist hired by the organization. In recent months, lawyers have said former scouts have decided to identify hundreds of other abusers not included in those files.
It is anticipated that filing bankruptcy in Delaware will alter the ongoing litigation and set a deadline for former scouts to make their claims.
"If you ever thought about filing to complain, the time is now," said Tim Kosnoff, a lawyer who has long worked on Boy Scout cases and is part of the team of lawyers who created the Abused in Scouting group of victims.
It is not clear what degree of reform will cause the judicial process to the Boys Scouts, who report having 2.4 million youth participants, but Kosnoff said bankruptcy seemed necessary given all of the lawsuits that have arisen. Kosnoff said that, at a minimum, he would like to see the organization heal its leadership and end the lucrative salaries of the leaders, some of whom earn more than half a million dollars annually.
Kosnoff said that even then, it is "difficult if not impossible" to imagine a new structure that gives the assurance that this nonprofit organization has changed enough. He said that the organization, which has been operating since 1916 under a constitutive law issued by Congress, may have to be liquidated and allow some new organization with better controls to fill that void.
The institution's motto is to instill boys in the United States, patriotism, courage and independence. For decades his superiors abused boys. / AFP
The Boys Scouts have already looked for ways to deal with the waning influence of the organization among American children: the 2.4 million youth participants that the group claims to have now represent half of the figure that belonged to it in the 1970s. In recent years, the group has modified the requirements to become a member in order to allow the entry of openly gay scouts in 2013, then that of openly gay leaders in 2015 and later that of girls from 2017. But legal pressures do not They have stopped growing.
Other organizations, such as the Catholic dioceses and USA Gymnastics, have also requested judicial protection to avoid bankruptcy in recent years when facing lawsuits for sexual abuse.
The problems of the Boy Scouts take decades. In a 1935 article published in The New York Times , the organization said it had records of hundreds of people who had been leaders in the scouts but who had been labeled "degenerate."
While those records date back a century ago, the Boy Scouts opposed disclosing some of the files in a case they processed in Oregon in the early 2000s, which led a jury to declare the Scouts responsible for pay 18.5 million dollars for punitive compensation. The records of that case remained private until a ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court made them public in 2012.
The victims and their lawyers argue that the archives hid the problem and left the scouts in a dangerous situation. The Boys Scouts of America have said that over the years they have established safeguards to demand the background check of volunteers, mandatory training and a policy that prohibits situations of solo encounters between minors and adults.
Last year, the Abused in Scouting group began advertising throughout the United States. and since then it has found almost 2,000 people with complaints, including one in each state. The age of the clients goes from 8 to 93 years. When the lawyers brought to light more potential suspects of abuse, the organization said it had initiated an investigation and made 120 new complaints to law enforcement agencies.
Robbie Pierce, 39, of Los Angeles, was scout throughout his childhood since his mother ran a Cub Scout vacation colony in California. Pierce said that, in August 1994, when he was 13, he participated in a weekend excursion at Camp Wolfeboro in the Sierra Nevada, when he and several other boys, including Pierce's brother, showed symptoms of illness and went to the cabin where medical attention was provided.
A 1916 photo shows the founders of the Boy Scouts of the United States, Ernest Thompson Seton, Lord Robert Baden, Powell Daniel Beard. / AP
There, a man who was not a doctor but one of the camp leaders examined each of the boys in private, Pierce said. He said the man had him undressed and groped his genitals saying he was looking for a hernia.
Pierce said the children did not talk about what happened until his brother brought up the issue years later and explained what had happened to him that night.
Pierce explained that he didn't know until much later that there was a systemic problem in the Boy Scouts. He said that while the organization helped him form and gave him many positive experiences, he now believes that it must be abolished or radically changed.
"It gives pedophiles access to boys," Pierce said. "This has to stop. I don't know if that means eliminating the Boy Scouts or having a new supervision. ”
Although the statute of limitations for crimes could be a problem for many plaintiffs, a new New York state law last summer opened a one-year window for victims of sexual abuse of any age to initiate legal action. New Jersey opened a two-year window in December. Last month, eight men filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts in Washington, DC, stating that a window to initiate trials and the organization's ties with the city could offer a judicial seat for lawsuits across the country.
The Boy Scout constitution law, enacted by Congress and promulgated by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, praised the organization's role in instilling children patriotism, bravery and independence. More than 110 million Americans have participated in Boy Scout programs over the years.
Under bankruptcy law, organizations can stop trials and receive a deadline within which people can file lawsuits. Kosnoff said those deadlines often extend between 90 days and nine months, but he plans to claim one of a year in this case.
He would also like to see the cause lead to an active process of searching for possible victims who might be entitled to claim.
By Mike Baker
Translation, Elisa Carnelli