johnsch322

This is a little disappointing to read as it was @mrjeff who started this thread. As was said if you want to post your opinion be ready to hear the other side. Hasn't history taught us anything?

Gay scoutmasters are not attracted to young boys...period! Gay men do not seek out straight men. Lesbians are still girls/women and I know this because my daughter is lesbian and every inch a girl and acts like a girl.

It appears that you are homophobic and you have that right. I think BSA and these forums might be better off without your participation and some of the old sad opinions.

In California before a claim can be filed in court for sexual abuse claimants above a certain age must have a psychiatrist interview and certify that in their opinion that there was sexual abuse. I forget what age that is but I did have to go thru that procedure. I believe once the psychiatrists report is written that by itself is taken to a judge. I can tell you for a fact that in my case the interview lasted for about an hour and was not just for rubber stamping purposes. I am sure that something similar would weed out many claimants in the bankruptcy.

John accepts the blame.

My time frame would be 30 to 60 years ago and yes I am asking about CSA trauma.

Thank you for your answer but my question is about the past. Did BSA offer help the victims as BSA or local council/troops became aware of the incidents? If you read the LA Times article they said that at the time of publication there were at least 50 incidences of leaders coming back after expulsion.

What keeps coming back to haunt me is that very little if anything was ever done for the victims. There was a crappy system for trying to keep abusers from reentering (not always though) they had insurance in case they were sued but so far I can see nothing for the victims. I have heard about families leaving town. Scouters continuing on but for the most part it seems like the victims were put to the curb as if they were morning trash. Has anyone heard, seen or read where a victim was given any voluntary help with his trauma?

It is amazing what transpired in the BSA.

Yes. My thinking over the last few days has been was there any formal written instructions from the BSA on how to handle abuse cases once the troop became aware of them. Also was there anything written on how to help the victims?

Wether he was paid or unpaid is immaterial to the situation. He worked for the BSA. In fact as an ASM he had authority over others and more than likely used that authority in the course of the abuse.

My opinion: At the very least this is a very good case for having no statute of limitations for child molestation in both the criminal and civil sides of law. Who was really looking out for the two boys? Were the parents thinking about the embarrassment or shame for the children or themselves? Who was thinking about the long term ramifications of their mental health, the anguish and mental torture they more than likely have had to endure? Also the monetary cost of treatment. The ASM who committed crime did not have to answer for it. How many more youth did he abuse? How many more w

I would be interested to hear others opinion on this...

Were these policies written as national policy or was it just something that was general knowledge? If this written policy do you know where the policy manual was written and is there historical evidence?

No need to apologize....I am not immune to go off myself. The point I was trying to make was there may not have been YP if pressure had not been exerted upon the BSA. I was a scout in the 60's and I am not sure what exactly was the formal procedure for reporting was then.

If they are part of 82,000 do you believe they should be compensated for their abuse?

In this situation you did the correct thing by calling the police but were the two boys offered paid for counseling/therapy to help them overcome the trauma that they endured? I wonder if they are now part of the 82,000 claimants? I also wonder how many other young boys did he abuse in and out of the BSA? Unfortunately too often the acts were not interrupted and when they did come to light the abusers were not reported to the authorities. In my personal situation at least 11 boys were suspected or known to have been abused but for some reason no one ever asked me. I would like t

The files were kept secret until 2012 when the Oregon Supreme Court ordered them to made public. That is only 9 years ago. Was it a different time in 1981, or 1991, or 2001, or 2011? The Boy Scouts of America did not advocate to it's membership to go to the police when knowledge of abuse happened period. There were congressional hearings in 1973 and child sexual abuse was part of the hearing. Yes in the latest incident with the videotaping the police were called but I would bet you donuts to dollars if the pressure wasn't on the BSA it would have been covered up like so many other incident

I change the wording to abuse I hope that makes what happened to myself and countless others more palatable. It kind of like saying "cultural norms of the day were different" makes it everything that happened appear to be a little more normal...kind of like acceptable almost.

I am pretty sure that cultural norms of the time wasn't: Hey did you hear about Joe down the street? He abused the little Smith boy. Oh yeah well lets make sure the police don't know about that!!

And yet there seems to be a widespread belief from people who occasionally comment in this forum with that argument. What bothers me is that they seem to be older scouters (such as myself) who have a long history with the BSA. The other point that seems to be made quite often is why punish the new scouters. All of this is not against scouters per se but the organization BSA and it's LC's and CO's etc. They failed under the law!

Child maltreatment[edit] Child sexual abuse has been recognized specifically as a type of child maltreatment in U.S. federal law since the initial Congressional hearings on child abuse in 1973.[1] Child sexual abuse is illegal in every state,[2] as well as under federal law.[3] Among the states, the specifics of child sexual abuse laws vary, but certain features of these laws are common to all states.[4] I copied this from Wickpedia. For me it takes away any argument of “different cultural norms of the day”. Society had laws on the books to punish those who victimized children. It was

Within one year.

The blind eye was turned not because it would tarnish good scouters instead it was turned because they didn’t want to tarnish the reputation of the national organization Boy Scouts of America. The stink is on all those who facilitated the carrying out of that policy.