Google News - Associated Press June 14, 2010
Journalists seek Scouts' files on abuse suspects
By TIM FOUGHT (AP)
PORTLAND, Ore. — News organizations asked a Portland judge on Monday to make public more than 1,000 files on suspected child molesters — records a jury used in April when it found the Boy Scouts of America liable for $20 million in damages.
The Oregon Constitution's requirement for open courts requires the release of the files that were evidence in the case of Kerry Lewis, a man abused in the early 1980s, the organizations' lawyer argued in court.
The Scouts' lawyer said the judge has discretion with such records and releasing them would damage the Scouts' ability to get a fair trial in upcoming abuse cases. Five more await trial in Portland.
The documents were introduced as evidence in the case involving Lewis. One of his lawyers, Kelly Clark, called them "the evidentiary centerpiece of this trial." The jury saw them, but Judge John Wittmayer sealed them.
On Monday, the judge promised to "get a decision out as fast as I can."
The jury awarded Lewis $1.4 million in compensatory damages and assessed the Scouts $18.5 million in punitive damages.
The 1,247 files were described in court Monday as covering two decades and totaling more than 20,000 pages.
The groups seeking the records are The Oregonian, The New York Times, Oregon Public Broadcasting, KGW-TV, The Associated Press and Courthouse News Service.
Their lawyer, Dan Lindahl of Portland, cited the state constitution's Bill of Rights: "No court shall be secret, but justice shall be administered, openly and without purchase."
The public has an interest in understanding the basis for the decision in the Lewis case involving the use of the government's power to punish a defendant, he said.
The Scouts argue that releasing the information would deter victims and others from coming forward.
Their lawyer, Robert Aldisert of Portland, read a letter from one victim asking the judge not to make the documents public because releasing the names would run counter to standards set in state laws protecting victims of child abuse and in newsrooms, which usually don't use the names of such victims.
Clark joined the journalism organizations and said the Scouts' resistance showed the group "still doesn't get it. The healing doesn't begin until the secrets are out."
During the trial, Lewis told reporters he had no objection to being named.
In May, The Oregonian reported that it had obtained access to a similar set of files that showed no record that the Scouts had alerted authorities to adults suspected of child abuse in 11 cases in Oregon from 1971 to 1991, and that 46 people were dismissed from Scouting in Oregon in those years, most on grounds of child molestation.
This article was found at:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h00FNVJoD_MOWFixvNpz8LOFeJCAD9GB9CPG0
RELATED ARTICLES:
Boy Scouts of America fighting to keep thousands of 'perversion files' secret in impending lawsuits
Boy Scouts ordered to pay former Scout $18 million for sex abuse, more lawsuits to come
Damages phase of sex abuse trial against the Boy Scouts of America hears testimony on inadequate child protection policies
Sex abuse trial reveals secret files and decades of cover-up by Boy Scouts of America
Mormons, Boy Scouts targets of new suit
Local Paper Exposes Boy Scout Pedophiles Protected by Mormon Church
Three brothers sue Mormon church and Boy Scouts alleging church ignored complaints of sex abuse by youth leader
Boy Scout leader charged with sexually abusing three boy scouts
Utah Boy Scout leader pleads guilty to child sex abuse
Sex Abuse Suit Filed Against Boy Scout
Oregon Boy Scouts sued in sex abuse case
Man sues Boy Scout Cascade Pacific Council for $3 million
Two Portland men join sex-abuse lawsuit against Boy Scouts, Mormon church
Lawyer in sex abuse suit deems case typical
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Boy Scouts sued in sexual abuse case
ReplyDeleteBy Kim Christensen, Los Angeles Times February 19, 2012
The mother of a Santa Barbara County teenager says he was wronged twice — once by the 450-pound Boy Scout leader who sexually abused him in 2007, and then by a local Scouts executive who she says told her not to call police.
"He said that wasn't necessary, because the Scouts do their own internal investigation," said the woman, whose name The Times is withholding to protect her son's identity. "I thought that was really weird.... I thought it was really important to call the sheriff right away."
So she did, triggering an investigation of volunteer Scout leader Al Steven Stein, then 29, who was charged with abusing her 92-pound son and two other boys. In 2009, he pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment. He was put on probation but later went to prison after authorities found pictures of nude children on his cellphone data card.
Stein's criminal case is closed. But its fallout is far from over for the boy, who is now 17 and, according to his mother, so traumatized by the ordeal that he seldom leaves the house.
Nor is it over for the Boy Scouts of America, which is being sued by the boy's family for negligence in a case whose ramifications could reach well beyond Santa Barbara.
The lawsuit contends the Scouts knew or should have known that Stein had put the boy at risk and cites the executive's reluctance to call police as evidence of an effort to conceal widespread sexual abuse.
In addition to unspecified damages, the lawsuit seeks to force the Scouts to hand over thousands of confidential files detailing allegations of sexual abuse by Scout leaders and others around the nation. It contends the files will expose the Scouts' "culture of hidden sexual abuse" and its failure to warn boys, their parents and others about the "pedophilic wolves" who have long infiltrated one of America's oldest youth organizations.
In January, after reviewing some of the files, a Santa Barbara Superior Court judge rejected the Scouts' argument that the documents are irrelevant to the lawsuit and ordered the organization to turn over the most recent 20 years' worth of records to the boy's lawyers by Feb. 24, with victims' names removed. The judge ordered the lawyers not to disclose the files publicly.
Known as "ineligible volunteer files," the documents have been maintained since the 1920s and are intended to keep suspected molesters and others accused of misconduct out of Scouting. Scouts officials have steadfastly resisted releasing them and won't discuss their contents, citing the privacy rights of victims and the fact that many files are based on unproven allegations.
They strenuously dispute that the files have been used to conceal sexual abuse.
"These files exist solely to keep out individuals whose actions are inconsistent with the standards of Scouting, and Scouts are safer because of them," said Deron Smith, public relations director of Boy Scouts of America.
Some of the estimated 5,000 files have surfaced in recent years as a result of lawsuits by former Scouts accusing the organization of failing to exclude known pedophiles, detect abuses and report offenders to police, allowing predators to remain at large.
"They have created these ticking time bombs who are walking through society and nobody knows their identities except the Scouts," said Timothy Hale, one of the lawyers for the Santa Barbara County boy.
The Oregon Supreme Court is considering a petition by media organizations in one case to release files for a 20-year period ending in 1985.
continued in next comment...
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-scouts-20120219,0,5265678.story
continued from previous comment:
ReplyDeleteThe Santa Barbara case is significant because it seeks to unlock files that have never been turned over by the Scouts, including all since 2005. It is also noteworthy because it alleges wrongdoing that took place relatively recently, even as the Scouts have stepped up protective efforts.
According to the lawsuit, Stein had a history of inappropriate behavior with children he'd met through Scouting, including "making sexual jokes and comments" in front of Scouts and in some cases pulling down their pants. In November 2007, he abused the Santa Barbara County boy, who was 13 at the time.
"Stein used his 450 pounds to pin the boy with sufficient force to cause bruising, ripped the boy's pants down to the point the boy suffered a laceration at his belt line, and then fondled the boy's genitals while commenting on them," the lawsuit states.
When the boy told his mother about the abuse a few days later, she said, she called the Scouts' offices to report it and spoke with David Tate, then the Los Padres Council scout executive. She said Tate initially tried to talk her out of calling the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and relented only when she insisted.
Tate, now a top Scouts official in New York, declined to comment. Messages left for his lawyer and the Scouts' attorney in the lawsuit were fielded by Smith, who issued a prepared statement detailing the Scouts' efforts to curb sexual abuse.
In the last decade, the organization has among other things expanded its sexual abuse prevention training and reporting. In 2010, the Scouts set a national policy requiring any suspicion of abuse to be immediately reported to law enforcement, Smith said.
Before that, volunteers and professionals followed state laws on reporting abuse, Smith said. The California penal code lists youth organization administrators and employees as mandated reporters.
In early 2008, Stein was charged with a felony, committing a lewd act upon a child, and two misdemeanors including child pornography for photographs he took of a boy's genitals. Two of the victims were Scouts; the third was the son of a family friend.
Stein struck a deal to plead no contest to felony child endangerment and one misdemeanor. He was placed on five years' probation but violated it by having the photos of nude children on his cellphone card. He was sentenced to two years in prison but was paroled early and has been in no trouble since, said Steven Balash, his attorney in the criminal case and the lawsuit.
Balash said Stein is "a sad case," living on Social Security disability payments in a Salinas motel with other sex offenders. He said that Stein is not a threat to anyone and that his crimes were relatively minor.
"Al is probably at the way far end of having done anything serious," Balash said, questioning the merits of the civil suit. "I don't know where the damages are."
But the boy's mother said her son has been deeply affected, in part because other families from the troop accused him of lying or "hallucinating" about the abuse. He refuses to go out in public and is now tutored at home, she said.
"He's not the person he was before," she said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-scouts-20120219,0,5265678.story
Boy Scouts ordered to release secret sex abuse files
ReplyDeleteOrganization must turn over last 20 years worth of confidential documents
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New York Daily News February 20, 2012
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- A judge overseeing a lawsuit brought by the family of a California boy molested by his troop leader in 2007 has ordered the Boy Scouts of America to hand over confidential files detailing allegations of sexual abuse by Scout leaders around the nation.
The Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge said last month that the Irving, Texas-based organization must turn over the last 20 years' worth of records by Feb. 24, with victims' names removed, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. The files will not be made public.
Known as "ineligible volunteer files," the documents have been maintained since the 1920s and are intended to keep suspected molesters and others accused of misconduct out of Scouting. Scouts officials have resisted releasing them and won't discuss their contents, citing the privacy rights of victims and the fact that many files are based on unproven allegations.
The officials deny that the files have been used to conceal sexual abuse.
"These files exist solely to keep out individuals whose actions are inconsistent with the standards of Scouting, and Scouts are safer because of them," Deron Smith, public relations director of Boy Scouts of America, told the Times.
The Santa Barbara case is significant because it seeks to unlock files that have never been turned over by the Scouts, including all since 2005. It also alleges wrongdoing that took place relatively recently, even as the Scouts have stepped up protective efforts.
The trial is scheduled for April, nearly five years after the boy, then 13, was molested by volunteer troop leader Al Stein at a Boy Scouts Christmas tree sale in Goleta. Stein pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment in 2009.
He was sentenced to two years in prison but was paroled early and is living in a Salinas motel with other sex offenders, his attorney Steven Balash told the newspaper.
The victim's name has not been released. His mother claims that David Tate, then the Los Padres Council Scout executive, asked her not to call police after she reported her son's claim of abuse.
"He said that wasn't necessary, because the Scouts do their own internal investigation," said the woman, whose name the Times withheld to protect her son's identity. "I thought that was really weird... I thought it was really important to call the sheriff right away."
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, contends the Scouts knew or should have known that Stein had put the boy at risk and cites Tate's reluctance to call police as evidence of an effort to conceal widespread sexual abuse.
Tate, now a top Scouts official in New York, declined to comment.
The boy's lawyers contend the files will expose the Scouts' "culture of hidden sexual abuse" and its failure to warn boys, their parents and others about pedophiles in the ranks of one of the nation's oldest youth organizations.
"They have created these ticking time bombs who are walking through society, and nobody knows their identities except the Scouts," said Timothy Hale, one of the lawyers for the Santa Barbara County boy.
Some of the estimated 5,000 files have surfaced in recent years as a result of lawsuits by former Scouts accusing the organization of failing to exclude known pedophiles, detect abuses and report offenders to police, and allowing predators to remain at large.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boy-scouts-ordered-release-secret-sex-abuse-files-article-1.1025610#ixzz1mwlcU9O3
Scouts File Appeal in Sex Abuse Case
ReplyDeleteYouth Group Seeks to Block Order to Turn Over ‘Perversion Files’
by BARNEY BRANTINGHAM Santa Barbara Independent April 26, 2012
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has asked a California appeal court to overrule a Santa Barbara judge who ordered the youth group to turn over files dating back to 1991 regarding suspected sexual activity.
The case involves a Santa Barbara family suing the Scouts because a volunteer molested their 13-year-old son at a 2007 Christmas tree sale. The volunteer pleaded no contest to charges and later served a prison term.
In its request to the Second District Court of Appeal in Ventura for an immediate stay, the BSA said the so-called “perversion files” are irrelevant to the case and that Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Donna Geck was wrong when she ordered the scout organization to turn over the thousands of pages of files by May 9.
Tim Hale, attorney for the family, is seeking punitive damages against the BSA and says the secret files show a long history of keeping cases of molestation shielded from parents who have a right to know about possible dangers to their sons. Release of the files has “national implications,” Hale said. Hale already has nearly 2,000 such files, 1971-91, from another case.
“Once again BSA is misleading a court in order to preserve its policy of secrecy regarding sexual abuse within the organization,” Hale said today. “The most glaring example of this is BSA’s stock PR statement that ‘youth protection is of paramount importance to scouting.’ If this statement were true, BSA would take immediate action to correct the dangerous situation it has created for today’s children …
“The BSA should immediately report to law enforcement every BSA volunteer or employee accused of abuse who BSA has previously either failed to report or prevented from being reported to law enforcement.
“BSA also should notify the public of its actions, and issue a press release identifying the name of the person they reported, the dates and locations of the suspected abuse, and the contact information for the law enforcement agency where each perp has been reported. This will arm parents, volunteers, and the public with information they use to protect their children from sexual abuse.”
http://www.independent.com/news/2012/apr/26/scouts-file-appeal-sex-abuse-case/?on