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Former Youth Protection Director on the dangers in Scouts BSA


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1 hour ago, vol_scouter said:

Please understand that in the 1960's and, I presume before, reports of child abuse where oftentimes blamed on the child and not the abuser - seems impossible now.  Also, if one referred a case to the police and there was no conviction, there was the possibility of the council being sued for slander.  Protection for reporters was not common until the late 1980's and mandatory reporting was not common until the 1990's.  The world has changed in many ways since the 1950's when I was born.  In many ways, the USA is very different in very many ways.

This is just to say that the local councils could not have just reported a possible child abuse case to the police and stepped back afterwards with no possibility of adverse actions as is the case now.  The belief in the validity of a child's story was questioned unless an adult said that the event happened.  The local councils had reasons for doing what they did.  Maybe good and perhaps not.

The rape of a child by an adult in the 40's 50's 60's and 70's was a crime, considered as deviant behavior and was not blamed on the child.

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I don't think anyone said that.  What they said is that we shouldn't just do weekly meetings and eliminate the outdoor program.  Honestly, scouting without an outdoor program is not scouting ... its s

I second all of that. Factor in this little story, as well. Add it to the consideration of “who [you] are dealing with” and “Don’t send your Eagle badge back to National. It does not seem to care.” Yo

Not replacing MJ with another external CSA expert is a disaster of a decision.  It is fueling the anger in each of these speeches.  If MJ wasn't working out, they should have hired a new CSA external

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4 minutes ago, johnsch322 said:

The rape of a child by an adult in the 40's 50's 60's and 70's was a crime, considered as deviant behavior and was not blamed on the child.

If there was good evidence or an adult witness, true.  In the 1960's, psychologists would say that child had been abused and had repressed memories.  The children and psychologists were often said to be making it all up.  The debates raged for a number of years until it became accepted that children would usually repress the memories of child sexual abuse.  Often children were accused of seducing the almost always male perpetrator.  As a youth, I read the newspaper from front to back most days.  These cases were of interest to me since the children were often not terribly different in age than myself.  Our understanding changed and society changed - thank goodness.

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7 hours ago, HelpfulTracks said:

I think it is fairly standard across states that murder 1 requires premeditation. 

We had a very lively exchange on the topic of regular old Murder v. “Soul Murder” back in the good ol’ days on the forum. How much child sexual predation lacks premeditation? Not much. Is the murder of a soul left to fester within the victim any less murderous? When I used the term “soul murder” (not of my coinage), I was immediately rebuffed with the comment, “show me the body.” To which I said, “I have the body right here. I’ve been dragging it around with me for 50 years.” Premeditated child sexual abuse is soul murder in the first degree, and there are lesser degrees of soul murder following behind. Is a life lost of the same impact of a life tortured from within? I don’t know, but I like discussing and debating it. There is great value in this multi-dimensional dialogue. Well, there is to me and society at large, I believe. 

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8 hours ago, MYCVAStory said:

But there's still a part of me that wants to say "Thank you Mr. Johnson, but I wish you hadn't waited a decade to speak up."

I hear that and I agree. For me, I had no idea there was a current or former Director of Youth Protection (or YPT for that matter until late 2019). During the live feed viewing of his remarks, all I could take in from Mr MJ, through my tears, was someone (anyone) who is, was or had been officially part of BSA National saying they are “sorry” and “we failed you…I failed you.” If BSA leaders knew the power and impact that had/has, they would have at least gone to acting classes to up gin up some tears before the 2.18.2020 announcement. Their attorneys would’ve benefited their case by having a morsel of even a slight hint of compassionate consideration, as well. Ms. Lauria has been ice since that infamous day in Delaware. (“You’re as cold as ice. You’re willing to sacrifice our…” dignity in the name of financial expediency?) As I said previously, I believe the worm may have turned on this pivot. We shall see. I hope so. TCC time…

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8 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

Yes it can destroy the innocent. I know someone who was cleared of any wrongdoing, but is still in the IVF. And it did affect her reputation in the community.

I know a man who was convicted (wrongfully) of murder, later exonerated and released, who petitioned BSA to be removed from IVF.  The answer was "No." 

Image before ethics.

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8 minutes ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

I know a man who was convicted (wrongfully) of murder, later exonerated and released, who petitioned BSA to be removed from IVF.  The answer was "No." 

Image before ethics.

What was the IVF entry on him? Did BSA create it on their own initiative subsequent to the initial conviction? Upon hearing the charges? Was the arrest in any way related to BSA? I’m not poking, just asking because a better understanding of the facts will help me ponder and respond. Or, ponder and don’t respond, just hit one of those little buttons of which I’m glad someone else noted there are far too few to cover the range of emotions and reactions evoked by posts on this forum. Anyway...

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Kosnoff has a message for me.

It is all good: this is all material in the public domain and it isn't about attribution. I just really find it insightful of all the material we post here (and it is a lot) what gets his interest the most/is most notable.

I know we produce a LOT of material but the question is whether it is relevant. I'm glad to see it is.

 

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7 minutes ago, ThenNow said:

What was the IVF entry on him? Did BSA create it on their own initiative subsequent to the initial conviction? Upon hearing the charges? Was the arrest in any way related to BSA? I’m not poking, just asking because a better understanding of the facts will help me ponder and respond. Or, ponder and don’t respond, just hit one of those little buttons of which I’m glad someone else noted there are far too few to cover the range of emotions and reactions evoked by posts on this forum. Anyway...

DM'ed you with the story... I'm not comfortable pushing his name out publicly, as he is exonerated.

Edited by InquisitiveScouter
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5 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

Kosnoff has a message for me.

It is all good: this is all material in the public domain and it isn't about attribution. I just really find it insightful of all the material we post here (and it is a lot) what gets his interest the most/is most notable.

I know we produce a LOT of material but the question is whether it is relevant. I'm glad to see it is.

 

Yup, CS = Kosnoff...tinfoil hat on for the morning...

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With permission:

Former Boy Scouts’ Head of Abuse Prevention Says Group Is Still Unsafe for Kids

Michael Johnson’s accusations come as the Boy Scouts solicit votes for a bankruptcy settlement from more than 82,200 men over childhood sexual abuse

Michael Johnson, former youth protection director of the Boy Scouts of America, said the group remains a ‘high-risk organization for child sexual abuse.’ Mr. Johnson held his post for over 10 years.

Soma Biswas

Updated Oct. 12, 2021 6:06 pm ET

The former youth protection director of the Boy Scouts of America accused the organization of failing to fix its system for protecting children from sexual predators, allegations that come as the group lobbies thousands of sex-abuse victims to support a settlement offer to end its bankruptcy.

The allegations of Michael Johnson, who left the Boy Scouts in December, come at a sensitive time for the youth group, which is seeking the votes of sex-abuse survivors for a bankruptcy restructuring that would resolve 82,200 claims of childhood abuse. Votes are due by mid-December on the settlement offer, one of the largest sex-abuse compensation plans ever.

Mr. Johnson, in a letter addressed to Congress, said the Boy Scouts continue to be a “high-risk organization for child sexual abuse” and do “not meet an acceptable standard of care to assure parents and communities that children in the organization are safe from sexual abuse.”

He said the Boy Scouts also fail to prevent sexual abuse incidents committed by other youth, doesn’t properly screen adult volunteers and leaders and “continues to minimize the significance of child sexual abuse risk in the program.”

A retired Plano, Tex., police detective, Mr. Johnson was hired as the youth protection director in 2010 to put programs in place to respond to and prevent sexual exploitation. That same year, a Portland jury issued an $18.5 million award against the Boy Scouts in a landmark sex-abuse case that would shed light on the youth group’s knowledge of suspected incidents of sexual abuse.

Mr. Johnson’s letter, dated Oct. 6, said known offenders are still volunteering in the youth group and have access to young people.

A Boy Scouts spokesman said on Tuesday that Mr. Johnson was the architect of the expert-informed policies the youth group has implemented to keep children safe, put in place over his more than 10 years of service.

“Today, Scouting is safer than ever before,” the spokesman said. “We are disappointed to hear Mr. Johnson’s characterization of the program he spearheaded and the concerns he raised, especially given his past public support for the robust measures the [Boy Scouts] instituted at his recommendation.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, however, Mr. Johnson said he was excluded from key meetings on policies on abuse prevention while he was at the Boy Scouts.

The Boy Scouts have acknowledged past failures to protect children and apologized to abuse survivors, while saying that current abuse-prevention protocols are among the strongest of comparable youth-focused nonprofit groups.

Mr. Johnson’s letter said the organization still fails to sufficiently screen both adult and youth volunteers and leaders, and to fully inform families of incidents. He said the Boy Scouts lack access to files on known offenders kept by troop-chartering organizations that administer and support most scouting activities.

The letter also called attention to the “large number of youth-on-youth sexual abuse within scouting.”

Mr. Johnson said he was asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement when he left the Boy Scouts “in exchange for a large sum of money,” and refused.

The Boy Scouts said his employment was terminated “as part of a difficult but necessary reduction in force” resulting from the bankruptcy restructuring. Like other eligible employees whose positions were eliminated, “Mr. Johnson was offered a severance package that, as standard practice, included a nondisclosure agreement and a nondisparagement clause,” the spokesman said.

Jeff Anderson, Mr. Johnson’s lawyer, said in an interview Tuesday that the Boy Scouts made progress on its screening policies after he joined, but over time the organization pushed back against many of his recommendations and it became evident to him that it was not sincere. Mr. Anderson also represents hundreds of claimants in the bankruptcy case and said he is against the Boy Scouts’ settlement plan.

At the press conference on Tuesday at which he was accompanied by Mr. Anderson, Mr. Johnson said he “tried, but could not make the needed changes within the organization.”

The Boy Scouts have offered $1.8 billion, plus the rights to additional insurance, to make peace with abuse survivors and shield itself from future litigation. Funding for the compensation plan comes from the Boy Scouts and hundreds of local councils, as well as insurance proceeds and a settlement with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The proposed deal needs the approval of at least two-thirds of the survivors who filed claims in the bankruptcy case and a judge’s approval in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., where the Boy Scouts sought protection in Feb. 2020.

Many abuse survivors are getting conflicting advice on the bankruptcy plan. It has the support of a coalition of law firms representing the bulk of the abuse victims, but it is opposed by an official committee tasked with looking out for the interest of all survivors.

Under the proposal, victims’ claims would be valued at anywhere from $3,500 to $2.7 million each depending on the severity of the abuse suffered, where it took place and whether suspicions about the perpetrator had been reported to the Boy Scouts. Plan opponents have said the settlements aren’t enough to cover abuse liabilities, which they believe are higher than the Boy Scouts’ estimate of between $2.4 billion and $7.1 billion.

Edited by ThenNow
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6 minutes ago, ThenNow said:

A retired Plano, Tex., police detective, Mr. Johnson was hired as the youth protection director in 2010 to put programs in place to respond to and prevent sexual exploitation. That same year, a Portland jury issued an $18.5 million award against the Boy Scouts in a landmark sex-abuse case that would shed light on the youth group’s knowledge of suspected incidents of sexual abuse.

For those bemoaning or wailing about poor, poor BSA getting picked on by those bad old lawyers, keep the following in mind.

BUT FOR the Oregon case, which included an order by the Oregon Supreme Court directing BSA to release some of the IV Files, BSA would STILL be in denial mode, STILL be operating the same way it always had, etc.

It was lawsuits like Oregon and the ones that came before in the 1980s that FORCED the BSA (I'm sure with poking/prodding/shoving from the insurance carriers) to create YP in the first place.

In sum, civil litigation and the threat of civil litigation is the ONLY thing that has prompted BSA to move on this subject in the last 3 decades.

 

Edited by CynicalScouter
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Just now, ThenNow said:

Do you take it off to make your dinner and re-don it once it cools? Charred side in or out? Inquiring minds...

Oh no!!  I make a new one every day, as every authentic tinfoil hat wearer knows to do...the aluminum loses potency throughout the day as it wards off the toxic energy and thought control waves.

I use heavy duty...but I do recycle!

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11 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

In sum, civil litigation and the threat of civil litigation is the ONLY thing that has prompted BSA to move on this subject in the last 3 decades.

See, for reference, the brilliant note by the ancient philosopher that the failure of 🥕 🥕 🥕  leads one to search for and deploy big sticks. 

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So, having slept on it...

Does Johnson's presser yesterday affect anyone's thoughts on remaining affiliated with BSA until more of these changes are manifested?

Over the years, I have become more aware of how the BSA "professional" side operates, and have grown more and more uncomfortable with their modus operandi.  Johnson's revelations yesterday only confirmed my interpretations of negative experiences accumulated.

I think my frog may be boiled, and, as we are nearing recharter time, I'm wondering if the thing to do is to decline renewing my BSA membership...

Anyone else struggling with this?

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