The last time I wrote anything about the Boy Scouts was back in 2006 when I had a bit regarding their religious discrimination which continued in the face of getting large amounts of government funds.
It's not a group I've ever cared much for (they don't even sell cookies!) but it's such a small fry that I haven't paid it much attention. But another recent development shows just how much of a horrible group this organization can be.
Just like the Catholic Church the Boy Scouts have been covering up abuse cases. Apparently they have been keeping files on instances of abuse, but have been loath to let anyone see those files. They claim its for privacy reasons, to protect the victims and wrongly accused adults, yet the files have even been hidden from juries until just now.
Now there is a lawsuit to seek damages and have these files exposed and the volume is impressive. In this case, "about 1,000 files, from the years 1965 to 1984, were included as evidence." Note that this is just saying that's what was included as evidence. It doesn't make any claim that this was a complete collection!
What's worse is that, "the files detailed many instances across the country in which troop leaders or volunteers were allowed to continue working with children even after the Scouts had received complaints that they had committed sexual abuse."
In the past few months, there's been growing unrest with the Catholic Church and its sex scandals. I'm glad to see that at least in this case, American courts are taking action. The same thing needs to happen with the Vatican: Those in charge of hiding these abusers need to be held accountable.
Friday, May 14, 2010
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