Re: An unusual sit. (Intro too)
Kelly Hallissey (BellevueNY@AOL.COM)
Sat, 14 Jan 1995 17:48:17 -0500
Intro first. Hi I'm Kelly, I am a CM, Asst Webelos leader, committee slave,
starting to be several UC's slave too! :-) (I volunteer to help too much.)
I have been a Cub Scout leader for the last 3 years, will be an ASM and Tiger
Coach next year, girl scouts start the year after.
In response to what I just read, I feel for you as I was in the same boat a
few months back. My ACM who is a Webelos leader and married to the COR,
publicly, in front of every registered leader in my pack (30 people), accused
me of accusing him of child abuse.
His assistant, married to the treasurer, claimed that he (ACM) had thrown his
son (the ACM's) to the ground and kicked him at a den meeting. The treasurer
told me and I went to my UC, who is also the ADC, who agreed that since I did
not personally see it to deal with it as a training issue at the next Den
leaders meeting.. (I had a problem believing it happened in the first place)
Unfortunately, the treasurer (who might have been lying the whole time about
the incident) freaked out and told the ACM that I had fabricated the whole
thing and had told all that I knew.
Next thing I knew, the ADC, DC, institutional head, and 30 some odd leaders,
were at the Den leaders meeting where I was accused of spreading horrible
lies about the ACM.
I found out all of this was going on the day before I was to run the Den
leaders meeting and spent 24 hours crying and shaking. I walked into the
room and listened to the ACM read a letter (He handed out written copies)
that supposedly contained quotes of me. I stood my ground, recited what
happened, and all the bigshots that were there defended what I did (talking
to the UC) as the correct way to handle the situation. (There were several
reasons why I could not go to anyone else)
The end result? The treasurer resigned, the ACM looked like a fool, and the
Assistant Webelos Leader stayed on in the den. The ACM apologized to me as
well.
My reason for telling this garbled tale is simple. Tell the Webelos leader
to stand up and fight. He should not step down, he did what was right. Our
first priority is the kids, not an adults feelings. We are a few of the
people who have access to kids that can help protect them from potential
abusers. (What the scout said the leader was doing is, in my opinion a form
of abuse, or at least perversion.) We are obligated to report any actions
that occur at scout functions by leaders or parents that can harm a child.
Tell your friend I'll be thinking of him.
Kelly Hallissey
Pack 187
Ridge, N.Y.
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
