The Boy Scouts of America, one of the nation’s oldest and largest youth organizations, filed for bankruptcy protection late Monday as former Scouts’ legal claims of past sexual abuse continue to mount.
The Scouts’ Chapter 11 petition, filed in Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, comes amid declining membership and a wave of new sex-abuse lawsuits after several states, including California, New York and New Jersey, recently expanded legal options for childhood victims to sue.
California’s law, AB 218, took effect in January and, among other provisions, opens a three-year “lookback window” for victims to sue for damages on claims previously barred by statutes of limitation. It also relaxes age restrictions on filing claims, giving victims until age 40 or five years after they become aware of injury caused by abuse.
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