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Boy Scouts File for Bankruptcy

February 18, 2020: Boy Scouts of America Files for Bankruptcy. What you should do if you are the survivor of predatory sexual abuse by a Boy Scout leader.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) filed bankruptcy as the number of sexual abuse claims against the organization continues to rise.  We believe that the Boy Scouts of America are using Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization to keep perpetrator names and documents secret.

Survivors should know they still have a voice and can still bring a claim for the harm they suffered. It’s time for anyone abused as a child in the Scouts to come forward.

Since the 1920s, the Boy Scouts of America have compiled and maintained information about known sexual predators within their ranks. The Boy Scouts keep this information in files called “Ineligible Volunteer” files, “IV” files, or “Perversion” files. The information in these files comes from various sources, including reports of sexual abuse supplied by Scouts or their families, internal investigations by Boy Scout officials, or officials at the local council level. The files include the names of alleged abusers, their occupations, how they offended, and where the abuse took place.

For decades, this information about offenders and their practices has been kept internally and secretly within the Boy Scouts of America organization. And for decades, the Boy Scouts of America have worked to keep this information secret. The Perversion Files illustrate the Boy Scouts of America’s longstanding knowledge of child sexual abuse in scouting. Through litigation across the country, courts have ordered the public release of some of these Perversion Files

In 2012, the Boy Scouts of America were ordered by a judge to disclose the Perversion Files of 1,247 alleged sexual abusers associated with the Scouts between 1965 and 1985. Then in 2019 a child sex abuse expert from the University of Virginia, Dr. Janet Warren, testified in an unrelated case that she was contracted by Boy Scouts of America to review all the Perversion Files they had compiled from 1944 through 2016. Dr. Warren testified that her review of the files identified 7,819 perpetrators believed to have been involved in sexually abusing children.  According to Dr. Warren, her review of the BSA files also identified 12,254 victims. The Boy Scouts have refused to make this information public.

The Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy sends a clear, re-traumatizing message to child sexual abuse survivors.

What Should You Do Now?

Contact Immediately as the Deadlines for Submission of Claims will be Limited.  We can help you in the process by obtaining the information and documents necessary to substantiate a claim.