Over 82,000 People Are Suing the Boy Scouts of America for Sexual Abuse

Now I wish I'd stayed in! I didn't get any dick til my 20's.

thats where i got my my start . It was devine!

What a bunch of whiners!

All these "conservative" insitutions like the Catholic Church, Boy Scouts, etc. are breeding grounds for pedophilia

I realize this is a HUGE generalization but...

I would rather kill myself than spend time with a bunch of kids. If you’re a parent then you are obviously forced to, but other people’s kids? If someone is finding ways to hang out with a bunch of children/young teens then they’re probably a pedo IMO.

I've been waiting for this reckoning! It's long overdue. We've all been hearing the stories our whole lives, about the Troop Leader molesting boys in his private tent, etc etc. I imagine, too, that these 82,000 people are not the full tally.

What a naive time in history when parents would let their young children go away for the weekend to camp in the woods with an adult male. Like R5 says, you have to wonder why a grown man would volunteer for this burden unless they had some personal gain. I'm not saying there aren't truly kind-hearted people in the world. But....being a troop leader offers an unchecked imbalance of power and access. Yikes!

I wish I had stayed in when I was a kid knowing this now.

In my 4 years being a scout i never once whiffed even a hint of impropriety . Scoutmasters changed in front of us at camp and when we went swimming ,but in those days that wasnt uncommon. Another bullshit money grab . There were a handful who were im sure,but how you going to prove someone is lying when it happened 40 years ago and the scout leader is long dead ? So the scouts will just hand some money to them and make them hopefully disappear. What kills me is there were places where kids were raped,beaten and killed and its crickets . But some dude say hes scout master touched his weenie in 1964 and its "heres $10,000" Read up on the White House boys if you want to hear a real horror story .

I was never molested, but there was more than once when I was still underage that I would've willingly participated, if I'd had my pick of partners.

I feel like it is much easier for a pedophile to become a scout leader and prey on victims than any other profession. Being a teacher requires an actual degree and certifications and is very stressful and often unrewarding job and given how much students love to torment and harrass their teachers, I can't see a pedo seeking out a career like this which would always put them at risk for accusations. Same with pediatricians and social workers. Jobs that require years of study, discipline and often are stressful and draining would not attract a pedo. Pedophiles are not that smart and are insatiable and many would seek the most low effort ways to get access to as many children as possible. And this would be getting a job as a scout leader, a priest, youth pastor, camp counselor or sports coach which require little certifications or high intelligence.

I think pedophilia in Hollywood is also over-exaggerated, like teaching and medicine, Hollywood is very stressful and competitive and you need to have legitimate skills to be in that industry. Again, pedophiles would want a job that is easy to obtain and victims that are easy to manipulate. Child actors tend to be intelligent and have social status, so risky to diddle with.

I was both Catholic and a Boy Scout and no one ever tried anything with me. How demoralizing.

So have they gotten rid of the merit badges for douching, cocksucking, and bottoming?

Meanwhile, three or four women have sued the Girl Scouts for allowing the sexual abuse of a little girl.

Never a second of impropriety in seven years in the Scouts, molested by ministers of two denominations during that time. Take that for why you will.

FYI: The BSA has a billion dollar endowment, hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the form of BSA camps, and 30 Norman Rockwell paintings (a million dollars or so a piece.) Most churches, excepting the one in Rome, don’t have more than the lot the church stands on so the BSA is one of the last whales available for the lawyers to profit from.

"I would rather kill myself than spend time with a bunch of kids. If you’re a parent then you are obviously forced to, but other people’s kids? If someone is finding ways to hang out with a bunch of children/young teens then they’re probably a pedo IMO."

Just because you hate kids doesn't mean everyone does. Yes, pedos will flock to places where they can meet kids, but that doesn't mean all or even most people who work with kids are doing it for the wrong reasons

A lot of people teach, do social work, counseling and coaching because they enjoy helping young people and see it as a valuable contribution to society. Pedophilia is a psychological disorder and quite rare. And what's surprising is most molesters aren't even strictly pedos just sadistic opportunist sexual predators who prey on anyone vulnerable regardless of age.

More work for lawyers.

My first real job out of college was at a Head Start and people really did not trust me on any level. Another guy who worked there did it because he was quite religious and felt doing something for the community was important, so he got a lot less crap than I did, but the general thought was that men working with little kids was creepy.

It's different with Boy Scout aged kids because that's an age where men like to take boys out to camp, play sports, things like that. I don't think people immediately distrust you if you're a man who wants to be a Scout leader.

Wait I thought child sex abuse only happened in sick “hollyweird” according to rethugs..

I'm sorry Boy Scouts is such a pedo hotbed as the dads who ran my group were so dedicated and really gave our whole troop a lot of skills and fun. I feel lucky to have never had anything untoward happen to me as a kid. I realize many were not as lucky, so my heart goes out to them.

[quote] I imagine, too, that these 82,000 people are not the full tally.

Really? Because I would bet there is a lot of jumping on the bus. The ads to jump on board are everywhere and constant.

r20, yes, I'll never understand the weirdos who are paranoid that Tom Hanks and Oprah are going to kidnap and eat their kids when almost all molestation victims are molested by someone they know well

This topic made me think of this hilarious dialogue from Sleepaway Camp.

[bold]Artie: Look at all that fine chicken, where I come from we call 'em "baldies."[/bold]

[bold]Ben: They're too young to know whats on your mind.[/bold]

[bold]Artie: There's no such thing as being too young. You're just too old.[/bold]

R14, not for long, if the Equality Act passes, the Girl Scouts will be forced to hire any male pedo who claims he’s a woman or be slapped with a hate crime.

Conservatives are funny like this. Boy Scouts, youth sports and Bible camps have plenty of cases of sexual abuse but they go ignored because they are sacred all-American activities that cannot be tarnished. At the same time they will blame Hollywood and say there is this ring of pedophilia occurring. Most sexual abuse is done by people who know the victim and are often in close contact with them. Kids from lower-income families or dysfunctional families and kids with developmental disorders are more likely to be victimized because they can be isolated and groomed easier. And most disturbingly, sexual abuse by older relatives is perhaps the most common cases since they have the most access to the victim. The whole "stranger danger" thing is exaggerated.

The McMartin preschool case taught a lot of people that helping kids is not worth the risk of being falsely accused. The ordeal that those teachers went through based on nonsensical and fantastical accusations showed that no one is safe who has any interactions with kids.

R26, Do you have any stats on that? For obvious reasons, assault of minors are kept private, even when reported, and most of those assaults are not reported because the children are either too frightened or don’t know how to report what happened. For women, 90% sexual assaults are committed by strangers in mixed sex bathrooms, showers, changing rooms and the like. I don’t know if anyone is keeping track of sexual assaults committed on men, though, I’d assume it is similar the women’s stats.

"not for long, if the Equality Act passes, the Girl Scouts will be forced to hire any male pedo who claims he’s a woman or be slapped with a hate crime."

I guess some people need to blame trans people for everything, even in threads that aren't about them.

I’ve seen commercials on tv seeking out people to sue the Boy Scouts for sexual abuse.

90% of assaults on women are not committed by strangers or in changing rooms. Where the hell did you get that?

[quote]It was devine!

No badge for English, huh?

I was in Boy Scouts. They whored us out! What fun!

"For women, 90% sexual assaults are committed by strangers in mixed sex bathrooms, showers, changing rooms and the like."

Really? Got a link? Because I thought the maority of sexual assaults on women were in intimate situations with someone they know, a date or a lover or a relative. Stranger assaults are less common, but perhaps they're the sort the police are willing to take seriously.

Obviously the thing for the Boy Scouts to do is to recruite lesbian scoutmasters, but something tells me they aren't going to have that much sense.

R34, not so.

[quote] Are you aware that despite less than half of changing rooms in swimming pools and sports centres being mixed sex, 90% of sexual assaults have happened in them? Yet mixed-sex, ‘gender-neutral’ facilities are constantly pushed, including in schools – contrary to law and building regulations requiring separate sex provision – when it would be more responsible to increase third space unisex provision for the comfort of those who need it.

There’s a link to the data in the article @ r36

The porn parody - "clASS action."

I don't think much of the person who assembled this report.

They take the noun 'ballpark' and use it as a verb in their first sentence.

r37, that site is clearly biased and their "stats" are largely unverified. They're just making shit up to bash trans people. The study they quoted didn't say that 90% OF ALL RAPES happened in unisex changing rooms, the 90% stat comes from rapes in sports facilities, it wasn't referring to the general population. But they made it seem as if 90% of all rapes were happening in changing rooms, which is bullshit

Anyone who knows anything will tell you that most rape victims are raped by someone they know well

I don't doubt at all that there was and is abuse in BSA. Most young groups, sadly, have some element of that. (I was in DeMolay and there were more closeted chicken hawks than at a bar mitzvah hosted by Bryan Singer!)

I know many/most cases are legit. But I do wonder if ALL those cases are valid, mostly because I've seen relentless ads for groups suing on Facebook and online.

Late-night TV commercials looking for abused former Boy Scouts are now as common as the ones looking for people with mesothelioma.

They are sending massive solicitations by email. I even got one in my inbox and I never even googled it. Not to negate those who've had bad experiences, but I would bet that many people see this as an opportunity to make money.

BSA is funded and has been funded primarily by the Mormon Church.

I was an Eagle Scout, so I was involved for several years. I never saw anything going on between the adult leaders and scouts, and there were enough adults around that I can't remember ever being in a truly one on one situation.

Scout on scout was anther story. Comparing dick size was a regular event in the tents at night, and I remember hearing abut some contests to see how quickly a guy could cum.I suspect that if there was something going on it was between a 14 year old scout and an 11 year old scout, although I never heard anything about that actually taking place.

In the early 2000s, I used gay.com chat a lot and there was a guy who was married who I started chatting with and we became somewhat friendly without hooking up. He said he felt like he was gay but trapped living a straight life. He would never tell me his last name or where he worked. A few months ago, I was able to find his full name through social media detective work. I was surprised to see that he works for Boy Scouts administration. He was nice and I don’t think he’s a pedophile.

I was a Boy Scout for a year or two, and I don’t remember ever being alone with any adult. Parents need to stop putting their children in situations alone with strangers.

R39, she’s citing the NYT. I mean, they got Iraq wrong but it seems like a weirdly specific number to make up.

Here’s the original story:

They deserve what they get for their homophobia.

"Parents need to stop putting their children in situations alone with strangers."

Some of these cases go back DECADES

But these scoutmasters aren't necessarily strangers, when I was a Cut Scout the scoutmasters were our neighbors, the parents of my schoolmates, people my parents knew through the PTA.

Who were, of course, precisely the sort of people who parents would trust like they'd trust the Creepy Uncle, the sort of people who actually get away with molesting children while all these "Stranger Danger" campaigns ignore the real culprits. Not that anything happened in my dull suburban neck of the woods, not with the boy scouts anyway.

I thought they all just circle jerked while camping. That's what I was told in 6th grade.

Two of the most successful strategies pedophiles use are:

1. Becoming well respected members of their community who are beyond approach.

2. Accusing others of being pedophiles to distract from their own pedophile actions.

Our society is built on the premise to trust people with authority blindly and never question their authority. Because questioning someone's authority can only bring chaos and nobody wants chaos, doubt, and uncertainty.

R51 you're very right, they usually aren't strangers. Most of mine were people we knew. Our scoutmasters were usually parents of boys who were in scouting. I remember my troop actively tried recruiting my stepdad because everyone knew him, he got along well with them, & was good with outdoorsy stuff. He ended up declining, just wasn't interested.

There were no molestation issues in my troop that I was aware of. Nothing happened to me personally. I mostly enjoyed scouting. I think scouting & going to camp is really good for kids, it lets you experience a lot of different things. I quit scouting though after a discussion at camp where the "gay" issue came up. The leader sitting before us said that gay scouts were not allowed in scouting, & if you were found out, they'd kick you out. I was 13 at the time & was already figuring myself out. Later that month I decided to quit scouting. A shame it went that way.

I was the one who mentioned DeMolay above - I don't know if it's because the members were all over 13 but that was a pit of sexual activity. And in most cases it was a more gray area than "molestation" because the young guys were willing participants physically, but then you have the fact that they're being groomed or influenced and they really can't consent.

It was such hypocrisy, with the adult leaders being all Republican patriotism Christianity and so on, but quite a few of them were chasing the young guys.

I don't remember anyone in Scouts even being remotely sexual to be honest. Those leaders were all very nice and very, very boring.

[QUOTE] Becoming well respected members of their community who are beyond approach.

Oh, dear.

93 thousand according to Whorah O Squabble on the CBS News

R51. I love the concept of an organizations of “But Scouts,” no doubt sponsored by the B’nai Bris.

R58 here—I’ll oh dear myself: “Cut Scouts,” not “But Scouts” (though it could be Butt Scouts, I suppose.)

They're the Butt Scouts to us

R5 people will freak out over what you said but I think you're right.

I'm my experience the people who've been dodgey in this way have been self styled "youth mentors ' there is something wrong with any adult who actually prefers the company of children. And given what we know about pedos it's fair to have questions about anyone who is terribly enthusiastic to work for free with children.

I've just finished Alan Davies autobiography. At one point he put two and two together that his pedophile father had been an avid scout leader for years. Generally praised and held up as a great member of the community for it when people should've been asking why the fuck he wanted to be so involved.

Hopefully heads will roll

Up to 90,000 claims now

The BSA would let guys who were accused of molesting kids in one state go to another state and serve as southeastern there.

I'd like to know their definition of "sexual abuse".

Touching? Erotic talk?

That's "scoutmasters"...I don't know how autocorrect got "southeastern"...

R65 Sexual abuse can be inappropriate touching, having minors do acts alone, all the way to full on sexual interaction. I'm pretty sure sexual talk can be included, as well as showing minors inappropriate content.

I'm glad the abused can go after these organizations. If the boy scouts wanted to avoid this they should've had better oversight and not tried to hush cases.

[quote] … inappropriate touching…

Schools and Scouts should publish guides as to which touching is appropriate or inappropriate.

The government should pay for it (along with a video presentation by President Biden)

President Biden. That has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it, R68?

Sad story

[quote] And this would be getting a job as a scout leader, a priest, youth pastor, camp counselor or sports coach which require little certifications or high intelligence.

Ordination to the priesthood requires a BA (typically in Philosophy) and a Masters in Theology or Divinity. It’s not rocket surgery but you do need at least an average level of intelligence to complete the course of study.

Or the proper motivation (your reward being diddling all the boys you want if you pass).

Up to 95,000 now

I should sue them for not molesting me. We had some hot scout leaders.

I was a scout for awhile and never got molested. There was an issue at a summer camp I went to involving a guy who I later went to high school with. It SEVERELY fucked him up.

It's probably those horrible ill-fitting uniforms.

With the awful scarves. Dr. Birx would like it.

Boy Scouts should have to wear a badge indicating whether they are cut or uncut.

I think this is payback for the Scouts 'allowing' gay bois into the organization 7 years ago. A lot of breeders were livid, and dropped out of the organization in protest. They chose this time for the accusations/lawsuits because the accusers know the Scouts are struggling financially due to Covid. This will bankrupt them.

^ I bet the scouts would appreciate that