In the 2010 trial of Lewis v. Boy Scouts of America, my co-counsel Kelly Clark and I exposed the very serious and long-standing problem of sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America. The case also resulted in a 19.9 million dollar verdict against the Boy Scouts.
Following that case, I have filed numerous cases against the Boy Scouts of America throughout the nation.
In addition, since 2010 other attorneys around the nation have filed lawsuits against the Boy Scouts similar to the Lewis case. For example, just in the past couple of weeks, an Atlanta firm filed a case against the Boy Scouts in Savannah, Georgia, another law firm filed a case in Portland, Oregon and attorneys in Foxboro, Massachusetts, filed yet another case.
In Savannah, Georgia a lawsuit was brought against the Boy Scouts of America and the Coastal Georgia Council for a boy who alleged troop leader Richard Merrey Jr. sexually abused him. Merrey himself was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to 52 years for molestation. According to news reports, the abuse is alleged to have occurred between 2006 and 2011. http://www.wfmynews2.com/news/nation/sexual-abuse-victim-files-lawsuit-against-boy-scouts-of-america/73755815
According to news reports, the case in Portland, Oregon was instituted on behalf of two brothers who were abused in the late 1960’s by Assistant Scoutmaster Clyde Brock. Brock was in the Boy Scouts’ Perversion files (Adam – make link to Perversion File description on my website) , which were made public as a result of the Lewis trial. The Perversion File on Brock, which can be read here, (http://www.boyscoutssexualabuselawyers.com/files/0563.pdf), detailed that Brock took naked pictures of the young boy scouts in his troop.
When his outrageous behavior was brought to the attention of Boy Scout executives, they sought to allow him to quietly resign and importantly, the officials chose not to report him to the police. You can read more about Brock here: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/10/boy_scout_files_read_the_cases.html.
According to news reports the case in Foxboro, Massachusetts, filed by Boston-area lawyers, concerned a claim by a former Boy Scout who alleged that he was sexually abused in the 1970’s by Scoutmaster William Sheehan. The news story also reported that Sheehan was alleged to have molested dozens of boys in Foxboro in the 1960’s and 1970’s. http://www.foxbororeporter.com/articles/2016/03/17/news/18631052.txt
These three cases in different parts of the United States, occurring over a 50 year period, illustrate the long-term problem of sexual abuse in Scouting and that the problem of sexual abuse in Scouting is on-going.
The Boy Scouts of America should be held accountable for leaders who sexually abuse scouts.