The Boy Scouts of American is no stranger to controversy, and now new information is shedding light on how many leaders were actually involved in a sex abuse scandal.
According to official records of the Boy Scouts, more than 12,000 children were sexually assaulted while in the scout program. The records, which date back to the 1940s, show that more than 8,000 leaders have been accused of these acts. Yes, that’s EIGHT THOUSAND PREDATORS.
Basically, this information was known to the organization, but only in the past 10 years or so had the vast scale of this abuse been exposed. What’s even worse is that this is probably not all of the incidents that have occurred. These are only those that have been exposed. Only the organization itself knows the true numbers of victims and perpetrators, and it has never released any of the names of the abusers. Though it is believed that these leaders were removed from their positions, the Boy Scouts never released their names to the public.
There are more than two million members of Boy Scouts of America, and hundreds of members are expected to file suit against the organization. One sexual abuse attorney, who has taken a prominent role in the case, has signed with more than 180 victims.
Currently, Boy Scouts of America have thousands of acres of land across the country, and the value of that land is very high. However, it is expected that the organization could declare bankruptcy, which has the victims in this case in an uproar as they would get little to no compensation.
Michael Surbaugh, Chief Executive of Boy Scouts of America, recently made a public apology. He said that the organization is offering support for the victims and members of the organization are outraged by the number of times that individuals took advantage of innocent children. He also said that they all care deeply about the victims and that they apologize to anyone who, during their time with the Boy Scouts, was harmed. He said that they believe the victims’ stories and will pay for counseling for any victim that requires it. He also encouraged any and all victims to come forward.
If the Boy Scouts of American files bankruptcy, it could continue to operate while keeping its information and assets safe. Last year, the organization filed suit against several of its insurers and claimed that the companies refused to cover its liabilities. The insurance companies banded together and said that the Boy Scouts failed to take precautionary action in these situations. As of now, all of those cases are still pending. Here’s the most disturbing aspect of this story: This is normal. Yup. Normal. That doesn’t mean it’s OK or acceptable behavior, but it’s the way it’s always been. If it’s happened consecutively over the past 70 years, and its part of the culture, the same way the Catholic church works, or thousands of teachers and coaches or others in professions who work with kids, its normal. Predators go to where their prey is. And the sooner you begin to have these uncomfortable conversations with your kids, the better chance you have of preventing this in your family. Care to discuss?
Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of Identity Theft Privacy: Security Protection and Fraud Prevention: Your Guide to Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft and Computer Fraud. See him knock’em dead in this Security Awareness Training video.