A story on Yahoo has a disturbing point:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/boy-scout-secret-file-resurrects-past-abuse-victim-170247896.html

The abuser was interviewed and states the even AFTER he was released from prison, he would still get calls from the local BSA to volunteer for stuff. He had to tell them to stop calling....

Then... BSA national spokesman Deron Smith said the ineligible volunteer files, "aren't perfect, and they were never meant to be. They were meant to be a barrier."

No kidding?

A sad day for Scouting...

http://www.kellyclarkattorney.com/files/

More like a sad day for da legal profession. Mr. Clark styles himself a crusader, but I'd use a different word.

To date in da corpus of da release, I think there is information that might be of some use for research on this stuff, but beyond that I don't see much for da BSA to be embarrassed about organizationally. Yep, sometimes local folks didn't always do what they should. Yep, sometimes there were clerical errors. Close as I can tell though, this is just standard human stuff. Good folks makin' mistakes.

Perhaps we should put together a little group to do an investigation of da full release, and give a comprehensive picture instead of cherry-pickin' da worst incidents.

Beavah

Beavah wrote: "Perhaps we should put together a little group to do an investigation of da full release, and give a comprehensive picture instead of cherry-pickin' da worst incidents."

Good suggestion.

I'd be interested in the statistics trended over time. Essentially, 1965 versus 1985. I say that because the 1st national legislation on child abuse was in the 1970s, but that was focused on the battered child syndrome. Awareness on predatory abuse didn't start until the mid 1980s. As awareness and society changed, I'd like to see how that affected the organizational behavior. But you'd need the 1990 and 2000 files for that.

I'm in. Beav, how about getting us started on some sort of scoring rubric so we are working toward a common purpose. Maybe Prof. Packsaddle can help with the design?

If we're going to do a credible job of analyzing the data, is this something we should take off line?

Sorry, I've already heard far more about all this than I wanted to.

Sure, I'm in.

I took a look at the one documented case around here. There are over 80 pages of documents, including statements from the kids, from parents, from the school, from supporters of the accused, etc. There are notes about subsequent phone calls, meetings, and encounters with the accused. In some type of bizarre irony, the accused had a job of "hose inspector".

The allegations were of kissing and fondling. From what I could see, everyone handled it professionally. Everyone except for the accused, that is. "Mr. X stated that he wished everyone on the [investigating] committee would drop dead of a heart attack." "Mr. X said that he thought what we were doing was stupid and a bunch of s**t."

The parents apparently wanted the man kicked out of Scouting, and he was. I don't see any mention of law enforcement, but I don't see any discussion of avoiding involving law enforcement either.

It's a lot of hard reading with a bunch of hand-written and photocopied documents, but some are typewritten. Every now and then you come across a real gem of a statement.

[discussing whether the ASM could take over while the SM was investigated] "When asked the whereabouts of the ASM, XXX replied that the ASM had not come to the meeting because he was sometimes violent in nature and felt it best not to attend."

[discussing the time of the alleged incident] "[A CO member] asked where were all the adults. XXX said there were no other adults along. A discussion followed concerning the lack of parental care and involvement in their sons' activities" - I can almost imagine the whole thing.

A lot of idols have been dropping in the last few months.

Penn State, Lance Armstrong, BSA.

The Emperor's are wearing no clothes.

I really liked the one where the Police had a confession from an SM and chose not to prosecute...in order to protect BSA.

"This subject and Scouts were not prosecuted," the executive wrote, "to save the name of Scouting."

And the one where a boy died after drinking a bottle of wintergreen oil, just after he told a nurse that there was no point in living (after being molested).

The ends justify the means?

God I hope my boy quits.
(This message has been edited by WasE61)

Spent way to much time last nite reading a few of the files, including the 81 pager that Oak mentions. Sad, yes. Needed to be released publically, don't know. Should all of those proven beyond a reasonable doubt be incarcerated, yes for life.

BSA is a excellent organization, but like any good organization, sometimes bad members are in it. You don't judge the US military as a whole over the idiocy of a few? Can't judge BSA over these folks.

And I would love to see some stats on total volunteer membership during this period, total numbers in the files, total number of prosecutions (or if statute of limitations expired SHOULD have been prosecuted), and total numbers who were removed, but not enough evidence to convict.

The Catholic Church seems to be doing ok. Our units fundraising was up 3x this past year and we received many outright donations and other comments of support.

If you hate the BSA so much pull your son and leave. Nobody is forcing you to be in it and you are still his guardian.

Well, it's REALLY in the news around here now! Headlines, leading stories on TV, etc. People who know me are starting conversations about other topics with reference to this stuff. The CO is re-examining things.
I mean...as far as I know, there has never been something like this to happen around here and despite that fact people seem be ready to touch a hair trigger. It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

I want to add...I'm thankful for these forums. The give and take I've read and participated in over the years has, I think, better prepared me for the discussions I think I'm about to engage in around here.

It was on local news last night, and national news (Good Morning America) this morning.

We made NPR! Big leagues!

I haven't taken any time to look at or read the files.
My take so far is that there were times when we as an organization maybe didn't do all that was needed.
If there are wrongs that can be fixed or need fixing we ought to to move on this ASAP.
I don't see that these files will in any way change the way that I act or will in any real way impact me.
The idea that anyone ever would want to harm or hurt a kid? Is something that I see as just being plain wrong.
People who do things that harm or hurt kids should have the book thrown at them.
I'm not sure what else needs to be said other than saying how very sorry we all are that this did happen.
Ea.