From: Peter Sanders (plsander@US.IBM.COM)
Date: Tue Nov 09 1999 - 08:15:24 CST
Thursday night was Roundtable, and our YP refresher. Friday night I
watched 20/20 with my wife. In discussing the report a couple of questions
came up that we did not have answers for, Where were the other leaders?
etc, but the biggest question was:
1- The report said that this person was removed from scouting when the
first scout reported the molestation attempt. This is the one where the
court found him not guilty. What was not said was whether the scoutmaster
was returned to his position in the troop.
This question cuts both ways - In this case, he was guilty, the result of
the court case was incorrect.
But what about a falsely accused scouter? In the YP tape, this question
came up and the answer was along the lines of "You (the reporting scouter)
are not responsible for reporting an allegation of abuse that turns out to
be false." I disagree with this statement - The reporting person may not
be legally responsible, but morally I would feel very responsible for
forwarding a report that I had misgivings about that later turns out to be
false -- especially if it resulted in the permanent banning of a leader.
At roundtable this question was raised, and no one could answer the
question about reinstatement.
So, what happens in the "accused, but cleared by the courts" cases?
YiS
Peter Sanders
