- Zorrow / Justice Warrior
- Horion Family Treachery
- Adopt-A-Horse, Inc.
- Atlanta Prison Farm
- Boy Scouts Hide Mass Rape
- Catholic Pedophile Stars
- Catholic Rapists Unionize
- Child Rape in Foster Care
- Creeper Capitalists
- Douch Bag of the Year
- Incest & Sibling Sex
- Jane Edgar Hoover's FBI
- Jasper Citizen's Review
- Johnson Crime Family
- Missionary Dennis Horion
- Men & Women Are Predators
- Newton Citizen's Review
- Official Support For Rape
- Rape By Cop
- SNAP Corruption Continues
- Schools Attract Rapists
- Sex Trafficking Victims
- Vatican Victims
- Walton Citizen's Review
Federal Bankruptcy Judges Give Petty Cash to Rape Victims
Jane Edgar Hoover's FBI Looks The Other Way As Usual!
Why Payouts Are All Over the Map for Boy Scout Sexual Abuse Victims
As a Boy Scout victim from Alabama, Gill Gayle is likely to get around $15,000 from a settlement fund compensating child sexual abuse victims, according to estimates.
But if he had been abused in New York, he would be eligible for more than 10 times that amount.
Gayle is one of more than 82,000 men who have submitted claims to a multibillion-dollar settlement fund set up after the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy amid an onslaught of child sexual abuse cases.
Victims are each entitled to up to $2.7 million from the fund, according to court documents, depending on the severity of the abuse they experienced and other factors.
But the settlement is designed to pay out less to men like Gayle, who grew up in states where their claims would likely be barred because too much time has gone by.
Some say the settlement as structured is generous—offering the men more than they likely would receive had they pursued their claims in state court. But others say it creates a patchwork where men abused in one state receive a fraction of what those in others receive.
Men in more than 30 states will likely have their awards reduced based on local statutes of limitation.
“I don’t care if you were abused in California or Oklahoma or Ohio,” said Timothy Kosnoff, a lawyer who co-represents some 17,000 alleged victims. “Why should the accident of geography determine a person’s compensation?”
Barbara Houser, a former bankruptcy judge who has been appointed to oversee the Boy Scouts settlement funds and process victims’ claims, declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Boy Scouts didn’t return calls.
The Boy Scout settlement has drawn renewed attention to statute-of-limitation laws that determine how long victims or prosecutors have to sue perpetrators. In recent years, some states have adjusted those laws in the wake of high-profile scandals, like sexual abuse within the Catholic Church or USA Gymnastics.
Some lawyers and lawmakers say the different statutes—and different payouts—reflect a core tenet of American governance, where states have different laws on any number of topics.
“How come a woman can get an abortion in California, but her sister in Missouri can’t get an abortion?” said Paul Mones, a Los Angeles-based attorney who has worked on Boy Scout abuse cases for decades. “It’s the exact same issue.”
Others say the size of the Boy Scout settlement highlights the unfairness of the system.
“When you have 82,000 victims and you’re all over the United States, you end up with this scattershot map,” said Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor who founded a nonprofit focused on eliminating statutes of limitation. “Same abuse, two different states. Same defending organization, and completely different compensation.”
Some lawmakers are trying to change their statutes of limitation to help Boy Scout victims. The settlement administrators say they will take into consideration new legislation. Lawmakers in Alabama, Indiana and other states are considering bills to do so now.
The Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy four years ago amid a wave of sex abuse lawsuits and mounting expenses settling those cases.
After hard-fought negotiations, the Boy Scouts, insurers and its local councils agreed to fund a $2.4 billion settlement in return for winning legal releases shielding them from further lawsuits over past abuses. Attorneys representing thousands of Boy Scout victims agreed to the settlement’s terms, including the statute-of-limitation provision.
While former Boy Scouts with the strongest claims could get up to $2.7 million under the terms of the settlement, victims’ lawyers say the amount will likely be a fraction of that because there isn’t enough money in the fund. The size of the payouts could change based on the final number of claims and continuing litigation with insurers.
Statutes of limitation exist for good reason, say some who don’t support their expansion. Memories fade as time goes on and evidence often disappears, leaving those accused unable to adequately defend themselves, they say.
Opening windows to sue for crimes alleged to have happened in the past can be particularly problematic.
“You can’t save records that you threw out. You can’t revive people who are dead who might be witnesses,” said Cary Silverman, an attorney for the American Tort Reform Association, which isn’t involved with the Boy Scout settlement.
Advocates for expanding the windows of time in which to sue say most young people aren’t prepared to confront an abuser until well into adulthood. The average man who experiences sexual abuse as a child comes forward around age 50, according to researchers.
“What 18-year-old that you know would have the wherewithal and the strength…to walk into a police station or a lawyer’s office or to their parents and say, ‘Hey, this guy made me give him oral sex, and I did it,’” said William Vahl, 71 years old, who was a Boy Scout in the late 1960s.
Michael Foust, 63, said two memories of the abuse he said he experienced growing up in Crawfordsville, Ind., are etched into his mind: how it started and how it ended. He was 11, lying in bed next to his scoutmaster at a campout, when he felt the man’s finger pulling down his underwear in the back, he said. The rest is a blur, he said.
“I remember whispering, he kept whispering to me,” he told Indiana lawmakers in February, growing emotional. “I cannot remember a single thing he said but he whispered the whole time in my ear.”
Foust and his parents filed a complaint about the man and he was arrested. But as Foust kept recounting the details of his alleged abuse, he began to fall apart, he said. When Foust’s parents learned their son would have to testify in court, they decided not to pursue charges, he said.
Foust is hopeful Indiana lawmakers will pass a law extending the civil statute of limitations for former Boy Scouts.
“I was abused in Indiana,” he said. “That wasn’t my choice.”
Write to Shannon Najmabadi at shannon.najmabadi@wsj.com and Soma Biswas at soma.biswas@wsj.com
Boy Scouts Live To Rape Boys & Girls Again!
Catholic Creepers Are Losing the Battle for Child Rape Victims to the Boy Scouts!
Scout leaders were told it's because of the Boy Scouts of America's bankruptcy filings. 30 troops are affected.
Published: Sep. 20, 2022 at 7:22 PM EDT|Updated: Sep. 20, 2022 at 11:34 PM EDT
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay is cutting ties with the Boy Scouts of America, impacting more than 500 members.
On Tuesday, the Bay-Lakes Council of the Boy Scouts of America answered questions about the future of some of its scouting units during a zoom meeting.
“I was really hopeful that we were going to find a solution, and so we’ve been negotiating for some time, and it wasn’t until about a week and half ago where we came to the conclusion that it just wasn’t going to happen,” Bay-Lakes Council Scout Executive Ralph Voelker said.
The Bay-Lakes Council Boy Scouts of America sent a letter on Friday stating that effective January 1, 2023, the diocese will no longer charter scouting units.
Voelker told those on the zoom call the Diocese of Green Bay is just as sad by the decision.
“I would say that our missions are a little bit different. They always have been, but there’s a belief that our missions have taken a different pathway,” Voelker said when asked by a person what sparked the relationship ending.
Two officials with Bay-Lakes Council say they were told it was due to the Boy Scouts of America’s bankruptcy filings. The BSA filed for bankruptcy after settling several lawsuits tied to past accusations and convictions of sexual assaults involving children.
“I’m just disappointed and I’m concerned over the future, and my kids are at the end of the journey,” Brad Johnson, a parent who also volunteers with his local Boy Scouts, said. “I’m concerned for future kids.”
Johnson says two of his kids went through boy scouts, learning valuable skills.
“I learned of this through the BSA, not my parish. I’m a parishioner. I have to get trained, I have to get youth protection. They’ve done background checks on us every two years. Being that I give money to the parish and that I belong to the parish, I just thought I would’ve hired from the parish first before we were ousted,” Johnson said.
In the meantime, the 33 scouting units that are impacted will have to find another charter sponsor and a place to meet.
Green Bay Catholic Diocese cutting ties with Boy Scouts (wbay.com)
Boy Scout Creeper Camps Become Shrines for Child Molesters!
Tom Condon, a former Hartford Courant columnist and editorial writer, writes online about Connecticut urban and regional affairs for the CT Mirror.
The Inflation Reduction Act signed into law last month includes billions of dollars for conservation and forestry. Let me suggest a way to spend some of it: Buy Boy Scout camps. Get them while supplies last.
The Boy Scouts of America organization is, as the cops say, jammed up. The BSA is in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, where this past week it gained approval for a $2.46 billion plan to settle more than 82,000 claims of child sexual abuse spanning decades.
The BSA’s approximately 250 local councils will be on the hook for more than $500 million in cash or land, which is why many of them have sold, or announced they are selling, their camps.
Many of these camps are almost pristine, ecologically valuable parcels, with waterfront and forested land. While local governments and nonprofits are trying to save some of the camps, others are being sold and converted to other uses, including a gated community, a water park, a gravel mine and an off-road driving facility.
The federal government needs to step in. This is the moment when these lands will be saved or lost.
BSA campgrounds were being sold even before the sexual-abuse scandal sent the organization into Chapter 11. The BSA has been losing membership for decades, from more than 4 million in the 1970s to less than 800,000 today.
The decline has left the Boy Scouts with more properties than they need. My own Boy Scout camp, Camp Wakenah, on an exquisite 32-acre lakefront site in rural Connecticut, was sold two decades ago and is now a multimillion-dollar residence that offers, among other amenities, an elevator to the wine cellar. Some might view that as an upgrade from a dirt path to the outhouse; I do not.
The BSA bankruptcy and looming settlement only hastened the pace of camp divestment. In July, New York magazine called it “The Great Boy Scouts Land Sell-Off.”
Evidence in the bankruptcy case indicated that local councils own as many as 2,000 camps worth $8 billion to $10 billion, an attorney representing 12,000 claimants told the Associated Press in June. The councils control 35,000 acres in New York state alone, a larger footprint than that of Disney World in Florida, New York magazine noted.
Keeping Scout properties as open space can be a challenge. Consider the Deer Lake Scout Reservation, in Killingworth, Conn., not far from my old camp. A year ago, the BSA’s Connecticut Yankee Council announced it was selling the wooded, 255-acre site.
The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit that has preserved thousands of acres in the state, appraised the property and bid $2.4 million. A real estate developer nearly doubled that amount, offering $4.6 million.
But then, this summer, a nonprofit called Pathfinders, which for years had been running summer camping programs at Deer Lake under a lease arrangement with the Boy Scouts, stretched itself to the limit and came up with $4.75 million in contributions and loans to top the developer’s bid. The closing is scheduled for Thursday.
The nonprofit plans to maintain its camping program and keep the property, popular with hikers and birders, as open space.
Deer Lake is the kind of property that should be kept undeveloped. It’s heavily forested, with a mile-long lake and exotic rock formations. It is part of a broader greenway that includes a 17,000-acre state forest.
Small fragments of forests — topographical measles — aren’t of much environmental help, but large deep forests are. The benefits from deep woods include helping to clean air and water, store carbon in plants and soil, foster biodiversity and protect communities from flooding.
The Agriculture Department reports that the United States loses approximately 6,000 acres of open space — including “forests, grasslands, and other natural areas” — every day. Deer Lake nearly fell into that category.
It shouldn’t take a nonprofit’s last-minute rescue to save Boy Scout campgrounds from development when they come onto the market. There is plenty of precedent for government involvement in land preservation.
When Deer Lake appeared on the verge of being sold to a developer, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) began looking into the use of money from the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund to aid with the purchase of Deer Lake and other BSA properties on the market nationwide. That might be a useful strategy, but the Inflation Reduction Act’s funding for conservation and efforts to combat climate change seems especially suitable for this purpose.
No matter how it’s accomplished, many of these Boy Scouts properties should be saved, for ecological, recreational and aesthetic reasons — and, who knows, maybe one day they’ll be needed to serve as campgrounds again. Once they’re gone, it’s pretty much an elevator to the wine cellar.
Opinion | Buying Boy Scouts camps a great and green opportunity for government - The Washington Post
The Lawyers Get Paid Big Time!
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts Argue Over the Young Female Cash!
FILE – More than 80,000 men have claimed they were abused as children by troop leaders around the country.(Credit: Boy Scouts of America)
By The Associated PressPublished: Sep. 8, 2022 at 5:57 PM EDT|Updated: Sep. 8, 2022 at 7:04 PM EDT
(AP) – A bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a $2.46 billion reorganization plan proposed by the Boy Scouts of America, which would allow it to keep operating while compensating tens of thousands of men who say they were sexually abused as children while involved in Scouting.
Though legal hurdles remain, the ruling by Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein in Delaware marked an important milestone for the BSA, which sought bankruptcy protection more than two years ago to stave off a flood of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers.
Lawyers for some of the victims said the amount an individual survivor may receive from the bankruptcy plan depends on multiple factors relating to the alleged abuse. The plan calls for the BSA and its local councils, along with settling insurance companies and troop sponsoring organizations, including Catholic institutions and parishes, to contribute to a fund for survivors. In return, those groups would be shielded from future lawsuits over Scout-related abuse allegations.
More than 80,000 men have filed claims saying they were abused as children by troop leaders around the country.
“Credit to the courageous survivors that this breakthrough in child and scouting safety has been achieved,” said attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm represented more than 800 Boy Scout abuse survivors.
Anderson said most of the $2.46 billion is to be paid to survivors, but some funds would be set aside in a trust to continue litigation against entities that have not settled, mainly insurance companies.
It will likely take months for any of the abuse claimants to receive compensation.
Anderson said the settlement has drawn mixed reactions from his clients. Many are proud they stood up and demanded a cleanup of the Irving, Texas-based Boy Scouts, while others feel like they were dismissed because the organization “hid behind the statute of limitations” in some states.
The Boy Scouts of America said it is pleased the court has approved its reorganization plan.
“We continue to be enormously grateful to the survivor community, whose bravery, patience, and willingness to share their experiences has been instrumental in the formation of this Plan,” the organization said in a statement.
The Boy Scouts said the perspectives and priorities of the survivors “will be ingrained in the BSA’s programming moving forward.”
The BSA also said that because certain parties have said they plan to appeal the order, the organization will next begin an appeal process in order to emerge from Chapter 11, “which will allow survivors to be equitably compensated and preserve the mission of Scouting for future generations.”
A federal district judge must sign off on Silberstein’s ruling.
When it filed for bankruptcy, the BSA faced about 275 filed lawsuits and was aware of numerous other potential cases. More than 80,000 abuse claims were eventually filed as part of the bankruptcy.
Attorneys for BSA insurers argued early on that the sheer volume of claims was an indication of fraud and the result of aggressive client solicitation by attorneys and for-profit claims aggregators. While some of those insurers later negotiated settlements, other insurers continued to oppose the plan. They argued that the procedures for distributing funds from the compensation trust would violate their contractual rights to contest claims and set a dangerous precedent for mass litigation.
Judge approves $2.46 billion Boy Scouts reorganization plan (wbtv.com)
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts Argue Over the Young Female Cash!
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts Argue Over the Young Female Cash!
July 22, 20228:04 PM EDT
Last Updated 2 months ago
Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts settle trademark dispute over co-ed scouting
The statue of a scout stands in the entrance to Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Irving, Texas, February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Tim Sharp
July 22 (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts have settled their dispute over the Boy Scouts' right to use the word "scouting" to advertise co-ed programs, according to a filing in Delaware bankruptcy court on Friday.
The settlement ends a Girl Scouts' lawsuit that the Boy Scouts had characterized as a "ground war" to counter its entry into girls' scouting. The Boy Scouts organization prevailed in the trademark dispute in April, when a federal court in New York ruled that the Boy Scouts' use of word scouting did not violate the Girl Scouts' trademarks.
The Girl Scouts agreed to drop its appeal of the April ruling as part of the settlement, and both sides agreed to drop related trademark proceedings in other courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. They also agreed to cooperate on the commercial terms of scouting trademarks in the future, according to the court filing.
The settlement did not include any payment by either side.
The Boy Scouts announced in 2017 that it would allow girls to join and later began an ad campaign for co-ed scouting called "Scout Me In." It changed the name of its main scouting program to "Scouts BSA" and officially started welcoming girls in 2019.
The Girl Scouts sued in 2018, saying the Boy Scouts' use of "Scouts" and "Scouting" to market to girls violates its trademarks. It said the rebrand created confusion and threatened to marginalize the group.
Both organizations have lost significant membership in recent years, and the Boy Scouts is trying to finalize a proposed $2.7 billion settlement of thousands of sex abuse claims in bankruptcy court. The Boy Scouts' proposed reorganization has been awaiting a judge's decision since the conclusion of a month-long trial on April 14.
Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts settle trademark dispute over co-ed scouting | Reuters
Boy Scouts Strain from Raping Children! Cry Me a River!
Scouts sell off camps under strain from sex abuse suits
KILLINGWORTH, Conn. (AP) — As the financially struggling Boy Scouts sell off a number of campgrounds, conservationists, government officials and others are scrambling to find ways to preserve them as open space.
A $2.6 billion proposed bankruptcy settlement designed to pay thousands of victims of child sexual abuse has added pressure to an organization beset by years of declining enrollment, and the Scouts and their local councils have been cashing in on their extensive holdings, including properties where some of the abuse took place. Developers have bought up some. Preservation groups hope others can be protected and some legislators have taken notice.
“I am emphasizing to my colleagues that there is a clear urgency here,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who thinks there may be federal funds available to buy Scout properties. “We have no time to waste.”
For over a century the Scouts and their local councils have acquired properties across the country where generations have learned to appreciate the outdoors through camping, swimming and canoeing.
In Blumenthal’s state of Connecticut, the Scouts’ Yankee Council is considering a $4.6 million offer from developers for a 252-acre property, Deer Lake, near Long Island Sound that offers camping, fishing, and hiking. The council has rejected offers from two conservation groups but is negotiating with one of them that offered a revised bid.
Sen. Blumenthal has said he’s looking into the possible use of money from the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund to help in the purchase of the Connecticut camp and the other Boy Scout properties for sale across the nation. Individual states decide which projects to pay for with that money.
Other properties targeted for preservation include 96 acres of what was the Boy Scouts’ Camp Barton, on the west shore of Cayuga Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region. It includes woodlands, streams, trails and a 75-foot (23-meter) waterfall.
“They are not making any more lakefront property,” said Fred Bonn, regional director for the Finger Lakes State Parks system. “Access to the lake is challenging, both with its topography and what is owned privately.”
Several local towns and New York state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is working with the Baden-Powell Council of the Boy Scouts to try to preserve the land. A nearby 41-acre parcel already was sold by the Scouts to private interests.
It’s unclear exactly how much land across the United States belongs to the Boy Scouts, partly because it is owned by local scout councils. But evidence in the bankruptcy trial indicated the local councils own close to 2,000 properties that could be worth between $8 billion and $10 billion, said Timothy Kosnoff, an attorney who represents more than 12,000 claimants in the bankruptcy.
The proposed bankruptcy settlement with Boys Scouts of America would have its more than 250 councils contribute at least $515 million in cash and property and a $100 million interest-bearing note. Kosnoff said the Scouts will need to sell much of their land to contribute to the national settlement or, if it fails, to pay for continuing legal battles.
“I can’t predict how long it will take for all these properties to be liquidated, but I think it’s inevitable,” he said.
Some abuse victims have mixed feelings about the camps’ sale.
Joe, a victim who did not want his last name used because his family is unaware of his experience, was abused by his scout master starting at the age of 8 in the 1970s at a Connecticut camp that was sold years ago to make way for housing on Candlewood Lake. He’s not sure he wants people camping on land where scouts were once abused.
“I don’t have those warm feelings about those places,” he said. “It’s almost like ‘Poltergeist.’ Do you want your house on land where those things happened? So, I don’t know what to do with those places.”
The Boy Scouts of America said in a statement that selling the camps may be necessary in some instances to compensate victims.
“Every decision must take into account the finances, viability of potential buyers, sustainability and meeting the obligations to provide the best service to youth within their respective council,” the organization said.
Councils in states including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have all recently sold or announced plans to sell camps.
Sen. Blumenthal said selling camps to developers goes against the tenants of an organization that is supposed to teach environmental stewardship.
“Unfortunately, local Boy Scout councils are selling to the highest bidder,” he said. “So, I think it is a national challenge, but it goes to the core of what scouting means and the ethos and ethic of scouting, which they may be betraying.”
In Michigan, a consolidation of local Boy Scout councils that began a decade ago has led to the sale of numerous properties, including Silver Trails, a 269-acre camp about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Port Huron. A group called the Thumb Land Conservancy tried to buy it in 2019, but lost out when the scouts sold it to a gravel-mining company.
“They’ve sold off, I think 15 camps statewide,” said Bill Collins, the conservancy group’s executive director and a former Boy Scout, who used to camp at Silver Trails. “So, people now have to drive sometimes a couple of hundred miles across the state to go to camp. Well, that makes most of day camp activities unfeasible and things like weekend camp outs much more of a chore for everyone involved.”
In Maine, the Androscoggin Land Trust has a purchase agreement to buy the 95-acre Boy Scout Camp Gustin near Lewiston, which includes a large pond and a bog that is filled with wildlife. Aimee Dorval, the trust’s executive director, said the state government’s Land for Maine’s Future program has agreed to chip in half of the $415,000 appraised value of the property. The rest is being raised through private donations.
The purchase would be part of the trust’s larger effort to preserve about 1,000-acres of open space along the Androscoggin River near Lewiston, land that also has been targeted by developers. The trust plans to continue allowing Boy Scouts to use the land while opening it up to the larger community for camping and other activities.
Dorval said it’s important for groups like hers to step up as these camps are put up for sale.
“There are accredited land trusts all across the nation that can take this on,” she said. “I think it would be foolish if people stayed away from this because of the (Boy Scout abuse) controversy. To us, it’s not about that. It is about conservation and about trying to preserve an area for youth and nature-based activities and historic scouting access.”
Scouts sell off camps under strain from sex abuse suits | AP News
Daddy Does the Nasty at Girl Scout Meetings!
Sex abuse claim filed against Girl Scouts
5,067 viewsAug 6, 2020
A woman alleging abuse by one of her troop leaders in the 1980s detailed the ordeal in a lawsuit filed against Girl Scouts of the USA, part of a flurry of child sex-abuse cases using a “look back window” for making civil claims against abusers. (August 6)
Bankruptcy Watchdog Wants More Grease To Fuck Survivors!
Bankruptcy watchdog challenges legal shield in Boy Scouts abuse deal
U.S. Trustee says shield is not permitted under bankruptcy law
Official survivor committee has yet to weigh in
(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog objected on Monday to the Boy Scouts of America's proposed reorganization plan and underlying $2.7 billion sex-abuse settlement, saying it provides impermissible legal protections to insurers and the bankrupt youth organization's local councils, among others. The U.S. Trustee said in a court filing that the nondebtor releases provided to insurers and others, which have not filed for Chapter 11, in exchange for contributions to the settlement are not authorized by bankruptcy law. "The Plan lacks even a cursory discussion of why the non-debtor releases are necessary," the U.S. Trustee said in Monday's filing, while also noting the releases were so broadly written it was not clear who was covered by them. BSA filed for bankruptcy in February 2020 to resolve allegations by former Scouts spanning decades that they were abused by troop leaders as children. Since then, more than 82,000 abuse claims have been filed in the bankruptcy. The plan aims to resolve all of those claims through the $2.7 billion settlement, which will be funded by insurers, local councils (which are independent legal entities), and BSA itself, among others. Insurers, local councils, committees that represent abuse survivors, current and former BSA officers and employees, and organizations that chartered Scouting units and activities will be among those covered by the nondebtor releases. Anyone who personally committed or was alleged to have committed abuse is not protected. The U.S. Trustee objected to these types of releases in the Chapter 11 case of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP as well. In December, a federal judge overturned a bankruptcy court's approval of those releases for members of the Sackler family that own Purdue. Purdue has appealed that ruling, but it, the Sacklers and several states have also engaged in mediation to reach an amended opioid litigation settlement. BSA has lined up support from 73.57% of the abuse survivors who voted on the plan, but that figure falls shy of the 75% it sought. Under the plan, survivors would receive compensation based on the severity of the abuse they endured, among other factors. The official committee representing abuse survivors in the bankruptcy, which has long opposed the deal, has not yet filed papers laying out its take on the plan. It previously argued that the payouts the plan offers survivors who filed claims are too low. However, a lawyer for BSA said last week that “significant progress” was made to bring in more survivor support.
Boy Scouts Go Anal Again!
The Boy Scouts and the lawyers are happy with a deal to fuck boy scout survivors. The lawyers get half of the cash and the rest goes to survivors. This first class fucking is too much even for the Justice Department!
Advertising Firms & Lawyers Battle Institutional Rapists!
Cardinal Gregory and Boy Scouts Lobby For Cheap Sex WIth Young Boys!
Georgia Victims Of Church Cover Up Of Child Sex Abuse By Scout Leader To Pursue New Law Suits Despite Case Dismissal
House Bill 605, the “Hidden Predator Act of 2018,” has broad bipartisan support. Introduced by Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, it passed the Georgia House by a vote of 170-0.
But it’s not a sure bet that it will come up for a vote at all in the Senate, said Rep. Spencer Frye, D-Athens, one of the sponsors of the bill.
Georgia law allows victims of childhood abuse to sue up to the age of 23, but the Hidden Predator Act would extend that age to 38 for abuse occurring after July 1, 2018.
For one year beginning July 1, 2018, it would also give older victims whose abuse occurred before that date — like the plaintiffs in the Athens lawsuit — a chance to file suits.
Studies show that many victims aren’t able to confront what happened to them for many years, said Frye, explaining the provision that would increase the window when victims could sue to age 38.
“We need to do that to get justice for the victims,” he said. “I can’t even understand the concept of not wanting to be accountable for these predatory actions against children. If we as a society can’t protect our children, what good are we?”
The bill also would allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue organizations who concealed or protected abusers, as the lawsuit against the Scouts and churches alleges happened.
Lawyers for the defendants include Steven Heath of Cowsert/Heath, the law firm of state Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, who is vice chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Lobbyists for the Scouts and for the Catholic Church have worked to defeat or water down the bill, Frye explained. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and insurance companies are also against it, while the Georgia Baptist Mission Board is on record as supporting the bill.
According to a statement released by Archbishop Wilson Gregory of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, the bill is “extraordinarily unfair” and could “drastically damage our ability to carry out the mission of our Catholic Church in the state of Georgia.”
Lawyers Hire Firms To Advertise For Rape Victims. Judge Questions "Dialing For Dollars!"
Judge orders deeper probe into where thousands of Boy Scouts sex abuse claims came from
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of the Boy Scouts of America has expressed increasing skepticism about tens of thousands of sexual abuse claims filed before a critical deadline last year that insurers who are picking up most of the $1.9 billion restructuring tab say are riddled with robosigned and potentially fraudulent allegations.
In hearings this week over the Boy Scouts bankruptcy as well as the bankruptcy of a company that supplied talc to Johnson & Johnson, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein in Delaware confronted a growing problem in cases that combine mass torts with bankruptcy reorganization. Plaintiff lawyers, many of whom have made a specialty of suing over asbestos, flood the court with claims they obtained from marketing firms known as aggregators, hoping to use the voting process embedded in bankruptcy rules to gain control of the reorganization and steer money to their clients – and themselves, in the form of fees.
Earlier this month, Judge Silverstein ordered a probe into handful of aggregators who used an extensive advertising campaign costing tens of millions of dollars to recruit the bulk of some 80,000 abuse claims plaintiff lawyers filed against the Boy Scouts last year. Insurers served subpoenas on aggregators Verus Claims Services, Consumer Attorney Marketing Group and Stratos Legal, as well as claims administrator Archer Systems. Those subpoenas order the firms to hand over documents detailing the claim forms they submitted to the bankruptcy administrator, their contacts with law firms, financial arrangements and procedures for recruiting clients and vetting their claims.
Insurers led by Century Indemnity and The Hartford have pressed Judge Silverstein for months to dig into allegations plaintiff a group of lawyers calling themselves Abused in Scouting or the Coalition submitted thousands of questionable claims, sometimes signing hundreds of forms a day with little to no substantiating documentation. Those allegations gained support last month when Timothy Kosnoff, one of the founders of the Coalition, acknowledged in a letter to the judge that an unnamed law firm had placed his electronic signature on “dozens” of claim forms without his knowledge or permission.
“We now know there are proofs of claim tainted by fraud, though we do not know how many,” Century said in a letter urging the court to authorize more investigation. “Thousands of claims have come in that will, without any scrutiny at all, control the vote in this case and be eligible to receive payment” under the terms of the bankruptcy reorganization.
In hearings this week, the insurers joined with some plaintiff lawyers in asking for a delay in approving the disclosure statement accompanying the Boy Scouts reorganization plan until they receive the responses to those subpoenas. Among other things, the insurers want to uncover any financial arrangements between marketing firms and lawyers, including agreements to share fee income, and to examine their processes for evaluating claims.
The marketing firms are some of the nation’s most prolific recruiters of plaintiffs for mass-tort litigation over products including Roundup, 3M earplugs, JUUL e-cigarettes and Zantac. Law firms often pay them thousands of dollars for the names of potential clients, which they use as leverage in settlement negotiations. The judge overseeing 3M earplug litigation issued a similar order in March against a client-recruiting firm called Top Class Actions.
Earlier this year, the insurers asked the judge to perform a random sampling of claims to determine whether a significant number were fraudulent. The judge never ruled on that request, but on Sept. 9 she ordered the marketing firms to file responses to the subpoenas by Sept. 29. In an odd coincidence, Judge Silverstein confronted similar allegations of questionable claims in the bankruptcy of Imerys, a talc supplier that filed for reorganization after being hit with thousands of lawsuits accusing it of selling asbestos-tainted talc.
In a hearing Monday, the judge heard testimony from Thomas Bevan, an asbestos lawyer who submitted votes on behalf of more than 15,000 plaintiffs he said had claims against Imerys. In hours of withering questioning, Bevan admitted he dumped nearly his entire client list into the bankruptcy proceedings, including plaintiffs who had died long ago and suffered from illnesses that would not be compensated under the Imerys plan. Judge Silverstein said little during the proceedings but observed in great detail how plaintiff lawyers can flood a bankruptcy with poorly documented claims and wrest control from other creditors.
The judge will have to decide eventually in the Boy Scouts case how many of the 95,000 or so abuse claims represent legitimate votes to approve or reject reorganization plans, although bankruptcy courts are ill-equipped to perform deep forensic analysis into such a large group of claims.
After presenting a uniform front for months in the Boy Scouts reorganization, the lawyers in the Coalition appear to have fallen out among themselves. In his Aug. 9 statement to the court, Kosnoff described how he retired from the law, bought a boat and sailed to Puerto Rico, only to “un-retire from the practice of law” so he could pursue Boy Scouts abuse claims.
Kosnoff said he joined forces with Philadelphia personal injury lawyer Stewart Eisenberg and Andrew Van Arsdale, a lawyer who is also part-owner of Reciprocity, a client-recruitment firm. (In a filing earlier this year, Century cited an affidavit by a former Reciprocity employee who said she and her co-workers processed tens of thousands of claims and were offered bonuses for recruiting claimants. Van Arsdale dismissed her claims as “completely unbelievable.”)
“The three firms worked closely together crafting the first television advertisement, which aired in February or March 2019,” Kosnoff wrote, and eventually recruited some 80,000 clients, dwarfing the 2,000 or so claims the Boy Scouts estimated at the outset of bankruptcy.
Kosnoff said he fell out with his colleagues after they endorsed a settlement plan that will pay claimants different amounts based upon the laws in their state – some states have strict statutes of limitation on abuse claims, others not – and available insurance. He still represents more than 15,000 claimants.
United Methodist Pays 30 million and Raises 100 Milli0n!
United Methodists to join in plan for Boy Scouts bankruptcy
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Congregations affiliated with the United Methodist Church have agreed to contribute $30 million to a fund for victims who say they were molested as youngsters in the Boy Scouts of America, an attorney said Tuesday.
A committee representing United Methodist churches that sponsored Scouting activities also agreed to help raise an additional $100 million for the fund.
Jessica Lauria, an attorney for the BSA, told Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein about the planned agreement during an online hearing Tuesday in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. Lauria said the United Methodist-affiliated churches would receive protected party status, which means they would be released from further liability for abuse claims.
The proposed trust is expected to grow to more than $2.6 billion and would be the largest sexual abuse settlement in U.S. history.
More than 82,000 sexual abuse claims have been filed in the bankruptcy case. Victims who say they were abused must vote by Dec. 28 on a Boy Scouts reorganization plan.
Judge Silverstein had originally scheduled a hearing starting Jan. 24 to consider the voting results and to decide whether the plan meets the requirements of the bankruptcy code and should be approved. But on Tuesday, the judge pushed the hearing start date to Feb. 22 to give attorneys more time to prepare.
Tuesday’s announcement involving United Methodist churches comes a week after attorneys said a tentative settlement was reached with one of BSA’s largest insurers, Century Indemnity Co. and affiliated companies had agreed to contribute $800 million into the fund in return for being released from further liability for abuse claims.
Other agreements involve another major Boy Scouts insurer, The Hartford, and the BSA’s former largest troop sponsor, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon church. The Hartford has agreed to pay $787 million into the victims’ fund, and the Mormons have agreed to contribute $250 million. In exchange, both entities would be released from any further liability involving child sex abuse claims.
The BSA is continuing to negotiate with Roman Catholic-affiliated churches that sponsored Scouting units.
The Boy Scouts, based in Irving, Texas, sought bankruptcy protection in February 2020, seeking to halt hundreds of individual lawsuits and create a fund for victims who say they were sexually abused as children.
United Methodists to join in plan for Boy Scouts bankruptcy | AP News
Greedy Lawyers, Consultants, & Lobbyists Fuck Scout Victims
Big winners in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy? Attorneys, who could walk away with $1 billion.
USA Today
12/10/2021
Cara Kelly
Like many survivors of sexual abuse, Jeffrey Chelmo didn’t get involved in the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy case for the money. He wanted someone to be held accountable. Yet, the settlement Chelmo’s looking at under Boy Scouts’ latest proposal is hard to stomach: $3,500.
That’s less than some attorneys in the case have been charging for two hours of work, according to court records. For the month of August, one attorney with White & Case, lead counsel for Boy Scouts, billed $1,725 an hour – more than $200,000.
The case is unprecedented for bankruptcy litigation related to sexual abuse in the number of survivors filing claims (82,000), the overall amount of proposed settlement funds ($1.8 billion) and now in the proportion going to fees for everyone from attorneys to financial advisers – even lobbyists tapped by the Scouts to ward off bankruptcy reforms.
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Boy Scouts of America estimates the bill for their professionals, plus those hired by the official creditors’ committees, could be more than $205 million by the end of the year. That’s approaching the amount Boy Scouts said it would contribute to a trust for survivors: $219 million.
The 82,000 who have filed sexual abuse claims in the case are scheduled to vote on the plan by Dec. 28. Approval requires a two-thirds majority. Under that plan, a majority of survivors are likely to receive $10,000 or less. Many payouts will be restricted by state laws that preclude older claims, making the flat rate option of $3,500 an attractive choice.
All told, the lawyers, financial advisors and consultants working the case could share $1 billion, according to a USA TODAY analysis.
Among the top recipients based on billing so far and elements of the proposed plan:
- The two law firms that have led Boy Scouts’ legal team, White & Case LLP and Sidley Austen LLP, together have billed the nonprofit more than $26 million.
- Screening claims and coordinating payouts requires other specialized teams, with costs expected to reach about $180 million.
- Attorneys who represent victims typically work on contingency of one-third of a potential settlement, and as high as 40%, which would amount to at least $400 million.
- The Coalition for Abused Scouts for Justice, which says it represents 63,000 survivors, stands to receive $950,000 a month in fees and a lump sum payment of $10.5 million.
Lynn LoPucki, a professor at the UCLA School of Law who studies large bankruptcies, called the entire system corrupt. Professional fees have continued to climb, he said, thanks to loopholes few are incentivized to close.
LoPucki analyzed fees in more than 100 large corporate bankruptcies filed before 2007 through a database he helped create, the UCLA-LoPucki Bankruptcy Research Database. He calculates fees as a percentage of the total assets of a bankrupt company.
He found the norm is roughly 3%, only occasionally entering double digits. Enron, which employed 64 professionals after filing for bankruptcy in 2001, had a rate of 2%. Boy Scouts’ fees are 42% of its self-reported assets.
“These are very rough benchmarks,” LoPucki said, “but I’ve never seen a case that had fees this high by that measure.”
More: Boy Scouts files Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of thousands of child abuse allegations
More: Boy Scouts of America sex abuse survivors claim censorship, object to bankruptcy exit plans
Earlier this year, Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein called the mounting fees in the Boy Scout case staggering and agreed to withhold 20% of them until the end of the case.
The court brought in a fee examiner, who got firms working for Scouts and the official creditors’ committees to cut $242,399 from one two-month billing cycle, according to a USA TODAY analysis of court records.
The examiner charged Boy Scouts $216,716 for his time.
Silverstein also approved Boy Scouts’ retention of several dozen “ordinary course” professionals – people the nonprofit would employ in their normal business operations outside of bankruptcy.
In October, Boy Scouts updated that list to include the 535 Group, which it said provides “government relations consulting services” and would bill the nonprofit no more than $10,000 a month. No one, including the judge or U.S. trustee in the case, objected to the addition.
The group filed paperwork with the U.S. House of Representatives last month disclosing work by a lobbyist with 535 Group – a former House member – on behalf of Boy Scouts against bankruptcy reform legislation pending in Congress.
In a statement, Boy Scouts said it “engaged 535 Group to help consult government officials related to pending legislation.”
“As a Congressionally chartered organization, it is appropriate that the BSA has a means to communication with elected officials, particularly at this pivotal time in our financial restructuring,” the statement continued, “and this requires the retention of registered lobbyists.”
Boy Scouts’ fees higher than USA Gymnastics, Catholic dioceses cases
Bankruptcy has become part of a playbook for organizations and companies seeking to limit their liability for sexual abuse. Boy Scouts is one of the latest to follow that path, paved by Catholic dioceses, USA Gymnastics and the Weinstein Company.
The Scouts filed for Chapter 11 protection in February 2020, halting all pending and future lawsuits against the nonprofit.
Steep price tags have become de rigueur in the rarified subset of high-profile bankruptcy litigation. However, USA TODAY found that costs in the Boy Scouts case are outpacing other sexual abuse bankruptcies while survivors are expected to receive fractions of the settlements afforded their counterparts in other cases.
USA Gymnastics has incurred around $17 million in fees as of September in a case filed more than a year before the Boy Scouts'. That’s roughly 20% of that nonprofit’s $84 million in reported assets.
The 500-plus survivors in that case had until Nov. 29 to vote on a plan that includes a $425 million settlement. Before expenses for vetting and distribution, it would leave an average of about $800,000 per survivor. That compares to about $19,000 under the Scouts’ plan.
Proponents of Boy Scouts’ plan say that figure could increase. Several of the Scouts’ insurance companies have not settled or disclosed the value of their policies, for instance, which could increase survivor payouts.
Another variable is the claims vetting process. The 82,000 claims filed have yet to be reviewed. If a sizable portion are missing required information, or fall short for other reasons, that could leave more for those deemed valid.
More: Boy Scouts bankruptcy update: Settlement OK'd by judge
The sheer size of the Scouts case and the scope of abuse – spanning the country and dating back almost to the group’s inception – are factors in the high costs. So is the organization’s complexity.
Boy Scouts operates under a franchise model, with a national organization coordinating 250 local councils that it says are separate legal entities. The setup also requires individual troops to be backed by sponsoring organizations like churches or civic groups.
Marie T. Reilly, a professor at Penn State Law who has analyzed the outcomes of Catholic diocese bankruptcies, said the church cases are less complicated because their structure is more straightforward.
Increased use of bankruptcy by organizations facing allegations of institutionalized child sexual abuse has given rise to a cottage industry of sorts with in-demand expertise, which experts say also can drive up fees.
“Now we have a very specialized bar, an extremely well-organized bar, with firms whose names are made in this type of work,” Reilly said.
Jeff Anderson, who represents about 800 survivors in the case, has built a reputation on sexual abuse cases against priests and groups like Boy Scouts. He’s joined by several other attorneys who have filed civil cases against the Scouts in the past: Paul Mones, Tim Kosnoff and Gilion Dumas were part of landmark cases that saw large verdicts and the release of thousands of internal Boy Scout documents known as the Ineligible Volunteer files, which the national nonprofit used to secretly track abuse allegations.
James Stang of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones is representing the Tort’s Claimants Committee in the Boy Scouts case, as well as the committees in USA Gymnastics and the Weinstein Company. His unique resume has made him a sought-after presence in such cases, but his services do not come cheap, as the Washington Post reported in 2019.
Stang has billed $1,195 an hour in the Boy Scouts case, up from the $1,145 an hour he’s billed USA Gymnastics. Stang’s firm has said it will donate 10% of its fees directly to the trust for survivors. He declined to comment for this story.
The hourly rates charged by firms representing Boy Scouts are significantly higher than those charged by lawyers representing the Catholic church. The average rate charged by White & Case to Boy Scouts has been about $900 an hour. For the main law firm in the Saint Paul Archdiocese case, one of the larger Catholic diocese cases, it was below $500.
White & Case declined to comment on the record for this story. In a statement, Boy Scouts said the complexity of the case “has no doubt contributed to the time and effort expended by our advisors.”
“We appreciate the steadfast dedication of our restructuring attorneys who are working diligently around-the-clock to bring this financial restructuring process to a close as quickly as possible in a way that meets our dual imperatives of equitable compensation for survivors and the continuation of the Scouting mission – all while establishing the largest sexual abuse compensation fund in the history of the United States.”
White Glove Fucking Costs Boy Scout Survivors
Venue shopping one example of bankruptcy loopholes
Boy Scouts of America – an Irvin, Texas-based company incorporated in Washington, D.C., in 1910 – opened a new corporation in Delaware in July 2019.
Six months later, it filed for bankruptcy and claimed Delaware federal court as the proper venue for all its subsidiaries to file for Chapter 11 protection as well.
Such venue shopping illustrates how checks within bankruptcy law fall short, experts say, contributing to a rise in legal fees.
“The fees are extremely high in big bankruptcy cases because the law firms are spending other people’s money and the judges are supposed to be watching,” LoPucki said. “But the system has been corrupted by forum shopping, and the judges are powerless to do anything about the fees.”
Checks and balances are built into bankruptcy law. Fees incurred by lawyers, consultants and other professionals hired by the debtors, and by official committees representing creditors, can be billed to the debtor’s estate. They must be approved by the judge and reviewed by the U.S. Trustee’s Office, which oversees bankruptcy courts for the Department of Justice. Fee examiners can be brought in to provide additional oversight.
Unlike a defendant in a criminal case, who typically stands trial in a court based on the location of the crime, corporations use loopholes that allow them to file cases in courts they think will rule in their favor.
In research he presented to a House subcommittee this summer, Georgetown Law professor Adam Levitin found that nearly 80% of large, public company Chapter 11 filings in 2020 were filed somewhere other than where their headquarters were located. That left three of the country’s 375 bankruptcy judges hearing 57% of those cases.
To compete for those cases, experts say judges must be willing to authorize top dollar for attorneys’ fees. If they don’t, those cases could be filed in other courts.
“There are nine bankruptcy judges in Delaware right now. If the cases went elsewhere, there’d be one in Delaware. The other eight would lose their jobs,” LoPucki said. “That’s why I say the system is corrupt. There’s no one controlling fees, and everybody in the system knows that.”
More: Boy Scouts abuse claims may become largest case against a single national organization
More: Boy Scouts of America sex abuse survivors claim censorship, object to bankruptcy exit plans
However, something other than fees likely drove Boy Scouts to Delaware, Levitin says. Bankruptcy courts in Texas, where Boy Scouts is based, don’t allow organizations that aren’t in bankruptcy, like the local Boy Scout councils and troop sponsors, to be released from liability in exchange for a settlement. Delaware does.
Boy Scouts has relied heavily on these releases as part of its latest plan. The more than 250 local councils, some insurance companies and at least one sponsoring organization all have received releases in exchange for contributing to the trust for survivors.
Whether those groups are paying their fair share has been at the heart of disagreement throughout the case.
Those who oppose the latest plan, including the Torts Claimants’ Committee – a group of nine survivors appointed by the U.S. Trustee's Office to represent all abuse claimants – say the local councils, insurers and sponsoring organizations aren’t contributing nearly enough, which they blame for the record-low individual settlement amounts.
Many survivors, like Jeffrey Chelmo, say that’s why they’re going to vote to reject the plan.
“You need to be accountable for your actions,” he said, “and here it seems like the people that are proposing the settlement have their interests rather than an equitable accountability in mind.”
Infighting drives more activity, resulting in more billable hours
Infighting drives more activity, resulting in more billable hours
One of the more unusual developments in the Boy Scouts case has been the presence of law firms that specialize in mass tort litigation, something that Reilly said has not been a factor in previous sex abuse bankruptcies.
Those firms say they represent tens of thousands of survivors and have banded together, calling themselves the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice. The coalition has wrestled repeatedly with the Tort Claimants’ Committee.
The problem with the coalition, Reilly said, is that it’s not monitored in the way the committee is as an official party to the bankruptcy. Its fees aren’t reviewed by the U.S. trustee and can’t typically be billed to the Boy Scouts’ estate under bankruptcy code.
However, the current plan includes a provision for Boy Scouts to cover $950,000 per month in fees for the coalition and a lump sum payment of $10.5 million. That prompted the U.S. trustee appointed to oversee the case to file an objection. So far, the provision remains.
The infighting between the committee and the coalition has resulted in more activity in the case, which Reilly and other experts say compounds the amount of time attorneys are working and, thus, their fees.
“I’m at a loss for words for the amount of fees,” said Christopher T. Hurley of Hurley McKenna & Mertz P.C., which represents around 4,000 survivors in the case. “They’re going round and round and round and spending money on these professional fees, and victims go uncompensated. We’ll see what’s left at the end.”
Cara Kelly is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team, focusing primarily on pop culture, consumer news and sexual violence. Contact her at carakelly@usatoday.com, @carareports or CaraKelly on WhatsApp.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Big winners in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy? Attorneys, who could walk away with $1 billion.
Methodists Want Cheap Sex From Their Children!
9000 Methodist Churches Oppose Compensating Survivors
Churches advised to oppose BSA bankruptcy plan
Key points:
- More than 9,000 United Methodist churches that sponsored troops have a say in the Boy Scouts of America’s sex abuse-related bankruptcy proceedings.
- A United Methodist Ad Hoc Committee has been part of negotiations for the BSA bankruptcy plan.
- That committee continues to negotiate but is advising United Methodist churches to vote against approving the current plan, given a deadline looms for submitting votes.
More than 9,000 United Methodist churches with a history of sponsoring Scouting troops have a say in the Boy Scouts of America’s sex abuse-related bankruptcy proceedings.
With a deadline looming, United Methodist leaders earlier this week began advising those churches to vote “no” on a proposed BSA bankruptcy reorganization plan. A press release reiterating that recommendation went out on Dec. 2.
The plan seeks to halt a deluge of lawsuits against BSA by creating a fund for those who, as Scouts, experienced sexual abuse from troop leaders or others. Under the plan’s latest version, nearly $1.9 billion has been committed to the fund.
A next step in the complicated litigation is an approval vote for the plan.
Abuse survivors are one class of voters. Others are local Boy Scout Councils, insurers and sponsoring or “chartering” organizations such as churches that provided space for Scout troops or Cub packs, took responsibility for their leadership and could be sued by survivors.
A United Methodist Ad Hoc Committee — consisting of eight annual conference chancellors, two bishops, two lawyers from the General Council on Finance and Administration and two staff members from United Methodist Men — has been part of the bankruptcy negotiations.
Members of the committee have sought a plan that deals compassionately with abuse survivors financially and otherwise, but also protects United Methodist churches from abuse-related lawsuits.
The United Methodist committee was part of mediation talks that continued through the Thanksgiving weekend. But votes on approval for the plan have to be in by Dec. 14, in anticipation of a January bankruptcy court hearing.
So the committee has put out the word that the churches involved — all of them in the U.S. — should vote “no.”
In a message to annual conferences and shared publicly by some, the Ad Hoc Committee said:
“We do not have a signed settlement that would bring healing to the survivors and a release from claims against United Methodist local churches and other United Methodist entities. These releases are essential to prevent congregations and United Methodist entities from being sued and numerous court cases for United Methodists to defend.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, once a major chartering organization for BSA, announced in September that it would pay $250 million into the survivors’ fund. The Associated Press reported that the LDS church’s settlement within the larger plan included protection from abuse-related lawsuits.
Bishop John Schol, who chairs a leadership team working with the Ad Hoc Committee, stressed in a phone interview that negotiations for a United Methodist Church settlement remain active.
“We continue to work vigorously to reach a settlement, but if we are unable to reach a settlement, the present plan will greatly impact United Methodist congregations and United Methodists as a whole,” he said.
Schol noted that “no” votes can be changed to “yes” if the committee reaches an acceptable agreement.
Annual conferences have scrambled this week to alert churches to have charge conferences for deciding on a vote and getting it submitted in time. The ballot has to be received by Dec. 14, not just mailed by then.
The United Methodist Church and predecessor denominations have worked with BSA for more than 100 years.
As of 2020, United Methodist Men — the church agency overseeing the denomination’s Scouting ministries — reported that more than 3,000 United Methodist churches chartered some 9,000 scouting units, serving 300,000 youth.
The United Methodist Church is the denomination most involved with BSA, and connects with about 20% of BSA youth membership.
Beset by abuse claims going back many years, BSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2020. It’s been trying for a plan that would compensate abuse survivors, halt litigation and allow the organization to continue operating.
But it’s been a complex undertaking, involving competing abuse survivors’ representatives, Boy Scout Councils, insurers and chartering organizations.
A little over a year ago, United Methodist leaders encouraged local churches with a history of chartering troops to file a “proof of claim” in the bankruptcy, asserting rights to insurance coverage or any other protection BSA might have offered.
The more than 9,000 churches that filed a proof of claim are the ones voting on whether to approve the plan.
Church leaders said in an Aug. 15 press release that the bankruptcy plan, as drafted then, left “as many as 5,000” United Methodist congregations in the U.S. exposed to potential lawsuits by abuse survivors.
The BSA faces more than 82,000 sexual abuse complaints within the bankruptcy proceeding.
In September, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein of Delaware approved a process for soliciting votes on the plan. Even if the different voting classes decide affirmatively, the plan would still require court approval. A confirmation hearing is set for Jan. 24.
The Ad Hoc Committee said in the Dec. 2 press release that it would be prepared to present its objections to the plan to the court if no settlement is reached.
A nine-member official tort claimants committee, appointed by a U.S. Trustee to represent all the abuse survivors, has advised voting against the plan, calling it “grossly unfair” in compensation for survivors.
But the Coalition for Abused Scouts for Justice, representing about 18,000 of the abuse survivors, wants a “yes” vote, saying the survivors’ fund is the largest of its kind in U.S. history and that the plan is the quickest, best solution
That group notes that the fund could see “significant additional contributions,” including from settlements by groups that chartered troops.
The sexual abuse claims against the BSA date from 1939 to 2020.
Voting on the plan began in October, but United Methodist leaders earlier advised not taking any action as the Ad Hoc Committee worked toward a settlement that better protected chartered groups.
Boy Scouts is A Group Of Predators Helping Predators
An Eagle Scout lays out how the organization was morally bankrupt before it filed for Chapter 11
I was an active Boy Scout as a teenager because I had strong motivation: getting myself the hell out of the Scouting movement. It was a cultural rite and a family thing, one I hated—but the rule was that I couldn’t leave until I’d reached the highest rank. My older brothers were Eagle Scouts, as were most of my cousins and nephews. Now the Boy Scouts of America are filing for bankruptcy, like USA Gymnastics and a bunch of Catholic dioceses in the United States before them, and for similar reasons. The Scouts’ motto, of course, is “Be Prepared,” but when it came to compensating a mere fraction of the victims of sexual assault in their dens, they weren’t. Now their finances will mirror their morals.
Good, I thought, when I heard the news. I hope this means they’re dead as a cultural force. The entire Scouting ethos is based on predation. One guy from a Virginia Boy Scouts troop of mine later pleaded guilty to molesting children in a church building during his Mormon mission to Las Vegas. I lost track of most of the rest. I made Eagle at 14, and that was that.
I’d started out early in the organization, in Germany; my dad was stationed at Bitburg Air Base, but our family lived out in town, which meant that, aside from school, Cub Scouts was where I hung out with Americans of my own age. I was indifferent to the group, but I loved the outdoors; I spent most of my time out in the woods or down by the river and traveled steadily up the ranks—Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, and Webelos, and Arrow of Light, for which I vaguely recall walking a thin, slightly raised platform meant to symbolize a bridge.
It wasn’t really my thing, but in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints it was the official youth program for boys, and a record of promotions through the organization was cultural currency—tangible evidence, like the accumulation of material goods, of your spiritual success. Having a family full of Eagle Scouts meant having a family full of righteous men, and training began early. It was simply something I knew I’d have to get through.
By the time we moved back to the States, I was 11, eligible to join the Boy Scouts; there wasn’t much choice in the matter. Scouting should’ve been a natural fit: I already enjoyed running around in the woods by my house wearing camouflage, playing Army man; I’d sewn my own ghillie suit. But Scouting was full of weirdos being babysat by man-children on power trips once a week on Wednesday night, with weekend campouts every couple of months, plus a week at a Scout camp in summer.
The Boy Scouts ripped off and distorted Native American dress, customs, and cultures as shamelessly as Instagramming white girls in headdress at Coachella.
I raced through the program as fast as possible, ready to quit once I’d gotten Eagle. My Boy Scout Requirements 1993–1995 book charts the minimum required progress for Eagle Scout: 16 months and a total of 21 merit badges. That’s what I did, carefully and cynically choosing the easiest elective merit badges, like Pets (“Requirement 3: Present evidence that you have cared for a pet for four months”) and Collections (“Requirement 2: Explain the growth and development of your collection”). These accompanied the required merit badges, like Personal Management (“Requirement 6: Tell how important credit and installment buying are to our economy and the individual and the family”).
Doing this, I learned—and am reminded now, flipping through the merit badge requirements—how much the Boy Scouts were cultural predators. They ripped off and distorted Native American dress, customs, and cultures as shamelessly as Instagramming white girls in headdress at Coachella. The “Indian Lore” merit badge required a scout to give the history of one Indian tribe, make a full Indian costume, and visit a museum to see Indian artifacts but never once mentions talking to a Native person—there are only 2.9 million in the U.S.
A fraternity within Boy Scouts called Order of the Arrow is among the worst at such cultural appropriation: Its “tapping out” ceremony, described here by Native artist and Scout mother Ozheebeegay Ikwe, leans heavily on whites wearing redface. (“While American Indian attire has been the historic tradition used in OA ceremonies,” the Order announced in an update on its website last month, “circumstances may dictate that lodges use either the Scout Field Uniform or the Alternative Ceremonial Clothing.” The announcement concluded by assuring OA members that “Ceremony scripts and the core messages they possess are remaining the same.”)
The high cost of the Scouting program was another form of predation: It’s expensive to be a member. Today, a bare-bones short-sleeve Scout shirt sets parents back $36.99, a shoulder patch $3.49, a long-sleeve shirt and switchback canvas uniform pants each come in at $39.99, a belt $12.99, a neckerchief $10.99, and socks $9.99. Not that the uniform components were all required, but that resulted in a tiered uniform system that subtly distinguished the rich and upper-middle-class kids from the poor. Kids with money had better gear for camping, and it was never cheap to attend a national or international jamboree (which worked out for me, since I had little interest in going).
At my Eagle Scout board of review, I recall feeling uncomfortable as old men asked me what I would do if one of my friends told me they were gay (“Requirement 2: Demonstrate Scout Spirit by living the Scout Oath”). To my shame—to this day, it bothers me—I hedged, faced those stuffy codgers wearing $9 Boy Scout socks and matching bright kerchiefs, put on my most earnest expression, and said something to the effect that I would try to help my hypothetical gay friend not be so gay, if they didn’t want to be gay. This seemed to satisfy them, as did the thousand-plus books that my book drive collected for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. I passed my review, got my terminal rank, had it presented in another weird ceremony, then kept my promise and promptly quit. Years later, when I enlisted in the Army, I entered at a slightly higher than usual rank, private first class, because I had been an Eagle Scout.
The whole Scouting organization was rotten, that’s been crystal clear to me since then; it seemed confirmed when disaster artist Robert Gates left the BSA presidency in 2016. When your outfit is abandoned by a Beltway maven who failed to predict the Soviet Union’s fall as an intel analyst, palled around with Iran-Contra conspirators as a CIA deputy director, and oversaw America’s post-9/11 wars of choice as the secretary of defense—twice—you know there’s some sinister shit afoot. Rats are always the first ones off a sinking ship.
The Boy Scouts have long known about the predators within their midst: Their own closely guarded “Perversion Files” tracked sexual abuse cases from 1944 to 2016. The numbers are staggering: 12,000 alleged victims—all children and teenagers—abused by 7,800 separately identified Scoutmasters. Think about those numbers, coming from an organization that held itself up as a pillar of American morality. That’s at least 72 years of horrifying, intimate abuse, hidden and concealed by an organization that taught its charges to “Do a good turn daily” while producing enough victims to fill an Army division. Many of these victims had no safe place to turn—as the new documentary The Church and the First Estate painfully shows. The film follows the story of Adam Steed, who was told by both his Scout and church leaders to forgive his abuser and forget the abuse but went to the police instead. The Scoutmaster accused by Steed admitted to molesting 24 other boys, ultimately receiving five months in jail and 15 years’ parole. It boggles the mind.
All this was going on while the Scouts fought unsuccessful battles in court to keep barring openly gay men from serving in their ranks. Meanwhile, the adult Scouting executives were making out like bandits—in 2009, a Charity Navigator report showed that the CEO of BSA was one of the top five earners in the nonprofit space, taking home a cool $1,577,600 in annual salary. The long con of Scouting paid off, until it didn’t. The glut of allegations and evidence is overwhelming—by the BSA’s count, it faces 275 abuse lawsuits across the U.S., plus thousands more additional claims, above and beyond the ones it’s already settled to the tune of $150 million it has paid in settlements since 2017. Even with $1.4 billion in assets, the organization faces so many credible abuse claims that its insurance policies are refusing to pay out.
Though I didn’t have the language to express it in my youth, I discovered that the Boy Scouts of America was full of men like Bob Gates: self-righteous, well-scrubbed creeps who kept their external aura of civic virtue shiny, obscuring the grubby evil in the institutions and traditions they oversaw. Reading through the lawsuits against the organization, it becomes clear that the BSA was an organization by predators for predators, optimized to groom and produce more predators. We should learn lessons from the victimized children’s stories, about accountability and justice: Judging from this preemptive bankruptcy, I doubt we ever will.
Let the Boy Scouts Die Out, Already | The New Republic
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Boy Scouts Contract For Survivor Support!
Sexual Abuse Survivors Receive 24/7 Support Services!
If you’re a man who has experienced sexual abuse or assault, you’re not alone.
We’re here to support you in your path to a happier, healthier future.
At least 1 in 6 men have been sexually abused or assaulted.
Many things qualify as “unwanted sexual experiences,” even if at first a boy or man was grateful for the attention. It could include an experience that a man may not be ready to label as “sexual abuse” or “sexual assault,” or even understand how it might have been.
Healing can begin when a man recognizes the possible connection between those experiences and common consequences – consequences that can include rocky relationships, lost jobs, self-destructive behaviors, depression, and even violence.
Whatever the experience, whatever the consequence, we can help sort through the confusion – safely and anonymously.
No Boy Scout Leader Is going to Prison
BOY SCOUTS OFFER PETTY CASH FOR 95,000 RAPE VICTIMS
Boy Scouts of America plan to exit bankruptcy would pay abuse survivors an average of $6,000 each
Boy Scouts of America is proposing to pay roughly $220 million toward a trust to compensate tens of thousands of former members who say they were abused as scouts, according to a statement from the committee that represents survivors in the case.
Another $300 million may come from a voluntary contribution from local councils, the Boy Scouts said in court documents filed Monday, but the local organizations have given no formal commitment.
The number is a fraction of the $1 billion of the organization's estimated value, and a sliver of the value of its subsidiaries, including local councils as well as various trusts and endowments, which USA TODAY estimates could exceed $3.7 billion.
The proposal is part of a reorganization plan put forth by the nonprofit detailing how it intends to handle the massive child sex abuse case that’s threatening its existence – the largest ever involving a single national organization – and emerge as a viable entity.
It comes a little more than a year after Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy in federal court in Delaware. At the time, the organization said it faced 275 lawsuits in state and federal courts plus another 1,400 potential claims. Nearly 95,000 claims were filed by the November deadline set by the bankruptcy judge.
The proposed settlement would amount to about $6,000 per claimant, even after the total number of claims is reduced after duplicates are deleted and other reviews. That number assumes an even distribution among survivors and does not reflect issues related to statutes of limitations or specific acts of abuse.
Boy Scouts says it will put forth all unrestricted cash and investments above the $75 million it says it needs to continue operations. It also will contribute its art collection, which includes original Norman Rockwell pieces and two paintings by Walt Disney, as well as two facilities in Texas and its oil and gas interests, consisting of more than 1,000 properties in 17 states.
BOY SCOUT CRIME SCENE RAPISTS REFUSE TO PAY FOR SEX WITH BOY
Local Council Wants A Free Sex With Children
Tensions rise over local councils' role in Boy Scouts bankruptcy proceedings
The role of local Boy Scout councils in the national organization’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the sexual abuse crisis that propelled it, is a flashpoint in a slew of new lawsuits on behalf of men who say they were abused as scouts.
The latest case, filed in Montana on Tuesday by attorneys with Abused in Scouting, includes 10 men who say they were abused by scout leaders. In it, 10 John Does claim that the Montana Scout council is controlled by Boy Scouts of America to such a degree that it is “the alter ego of the BSA.”
The same group filed another suit last month on behalf of eight men in Hawaii. Attorneys with the firm Crew Janci also filed five suits last week in Montana for six clients. Gillon Dumas of Dumas & Vaughn of Oregon filed another four in the last month. Another Seattle-based firm filed three more.
The lawsuits come nearly four months after Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy reorganization, anticipated for months as a way to limit liability in the abuse cases by carving off assets of the more than 260 local scout councils.
While the approach mirrors that of the Catholic Church, many plaintiffs’ attorneys and advocates believe it is unprecedented for a nonprofit youth organization.
In documents filed in February, and subsequent statements, Boy Scouts of America has argued that the national organization should be the only entity required to cover financial settlements in the sexual abuse cases that landed the organization in a state of near financial collapse.
More:Boy Scouts files Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the face of thousands of child abuse allegations
More:Boy Scouts says it's safe, and offers sex abuse victims just 80 days to file claim. Victims balk.
The national organization describes its relationship with local councils as essentially a franchise arrangement: The national group handles the development of Scout content and structure, licensing, training, human resources, legal support and information technology; the local councils are separate legal entities.
BOY SCOUT CREEPERS KILL THE SCOUTING EXPERIENCE
An Elegy for the Boy Scouts
The creepers working the boys in the Boy Scouts are responsible for the death of their organization. Silence was not golden!
The news over the past few years has offered little to cheer about, but a recent story reporting an unprecedented 43 percent decline in membership in the Boy Scouts of America from 2019 to 2020—from 1.97 million Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts to 1.12 million—was especially dispiriting. To make matters worse, the Associated Press reports that BSA membership has fallen even further since 2020—to about 762,000. For purposes of comparison, combined enrollment in the BSA—Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts—peaked in 1972 at 6.5 million members and as recently as 1998 was 4.8 million. These numbers are shockingly grim. The once-robust BSA is on life support, with a seemingly fatal malady.
Boy Scouts Creepers Fail to Close Down Woodpeckers
BOY SCOUT COUNCILS COUGH UP THE CASH FOR RAPING KIDS
A Judge Has Given The Boy Scouts Conditional Approval Of An $850M Bankruptcy Deal
DOVER, Del. — A Delaware judge ruled Thursday that the Boy Scouts of America can enter into a pivotal $850 million agreement that the organization hopes to use as a springboard to emerging from bankruptcy later this year, but rejected two key provisions of the deal.
Following three days of testimony and arguments, the judge granted the BSA's request to enter into an agreement involving the national Boy Scouts organization, roughly 250 local Boy Scout councils, and attorneys representing some 70,000 men who say they were sexually abused as youngsters decades ago while engaged in Boy Scout-related activities. The agreement calls for the Boy Scouts and local councils to contribute $850 million into a fund for abuse claimants.
The agreement was opposed by insurers who issued policies to the Boy Scouts and local councils, attorneys representing thousands of other abuse victims, and various church denominations that have sponsored local Boy Scout troops.
It was not immediately clear how the judge's ruling will affect the future of the bankruptcy case, given that she rejected two significant provisions in the agreement.
While ruling that BSA officials exercised proper business judgment as required under the law in entering into the agreement, the judge refused to grant a request that the Boy Scouts be allowed to pay millions of dollars in legal fees and expenses of attorneys hired by law firms that represent tens of thousands of abuse claimants.
She also denied the BSA's request under the agreement for permission to withdraw from an April agreement in which insurance company The Hartford would pay $650 million into the fund for abuse claimants in exchange for being released from any further liability.
The Boy Scouts of America, based in Irving, Texas, sought bankruptcy protection in February 2020 in an effort to halt hundreds of individual lawsuits and create a huge compensation fund for thousands of men who were molested as youngsters by scoutmasters or other leaders. Although the organization was facing 275 lawsuits at the time of the filing, it is now facing some 82,500 sexual abuse claims in the bankruptcy case.
Under the agreement, the Boy Scouts would contribute up to $250 million in cash and property to a fund for victims of child sexual abuse. The local councils, which run day-to-day operations for Boy Scout troops, would contribute $600 million. In addition, the national organization and local councils would transfer their rights to Boy Scout insurance policies to the victims fund. In return, they would be released from future liability for abuse claims.
Opponents of the deal argued that BSA officials failed to fully inform themselves or exercise proper business judgment in entering into the agreement. They noted that the Boy Scouts board of directors never adopted a resolution approving the agreement, and that decision-making authority was delegated to an executive committee and a handful of people on a bankruptcy task force.
The judge rejected two controversial provisions in the agreement that opponents had highlighted.
One allows the Boy Scouts to back out of a settlement they reached in April with one of their insurers, The Hartford. The Hartford agreed to pay $650 million into the victims fund in exchange for being released from any further obligations. The Boy Scouts sought to withdraw from the agreement after attorneys for abuse claimants, who estimate the liability exposure of BSA insurers in the billions of dollars, maintained that their clients would never support a plan that includes it.
The agreement also included a provision under which the Boy Scouts would pay millions of dollars in legal fees and expenses incurred by law firms representing an ad hoc group called the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice. Law firms affiliated with the coalition represent some 63,000 abuse claimants and were among the supporters of the agreement.
Despite the partial approval of the agreement, the Boy Scouts still face a host of objections to the disclosure statement.
Opposing lawyers argue it does not fully inform creditors and leaves too many unanswered questions regarding insurance issues and the treatment of local councils and sponsoring organizations. They also say the proposed voting procedures accompanying the disclosure statement improperly put abuse claimants with valid cases on the same footing with some 60,000 claims presumably barred because of statutes of limitations in various states.
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/19/1029448274/boy-scouts-bankruptcy-judge-conditional-approval
CHURCHES' PAY FOR BOY SCOUT SEX WITH CHILDREN
BOY SCOUT COUNCILS COUGH UP THE CASH FOR RAPING KIDS
BOY SCOUT COUNCILS COUGH UP THE CASH FOR RAPING KIDS
Boy Scouts' Bankruptcy Creates Rift With Religious Partners
NEW YORK (AP) — Amid the Boy Scouts of America’s complex bankruptcy case, there is worsening friction between the BSA and the major religious groups that help it run thousands of scout units. At issue: the churches’ fears that an eventual settlement — while protecting the BSA from future sex-abuse lawsuits — could leave many churches unprotected.
The Boy Scouts sought bankruptcy protection in February 2020 in an effort to halt individual lawsuits and create a huge compensation fund for thousands of men who say they were molested as youngsters by scoutmasters or other leaders. At the time, the national organization estimated it might face 5,000 cases; it now faces 82,500.
In July, the BSA proposed an $850 million deal that would bar further lawsuits against it and its local councils. The deal did not cover the more than 40,000 organizations that have charters with the BSA to sponsor scout units, including many churches from major religious denominations that are now questioning their future involvement in scouting.
The United Methodist Church — which says up to 5,000 of its U.S. congregations could be affected by future lawsuits — recently advised those churches not to extend their charters with the BSA beyond the end of this year. The UMC said these congregations were “disappointed and very concerned” that they weren’t included in the July deal.
Everett Cygal, a lawyer for Catholic churches monitoring the case, said it is unfair that parishes now face liability “solely as a result of misconduct by Boy Scout troop leaders who frequently had no connection to the parish.”
“Scouting can only be delivered with help of their chartered organizations,” Cygal told The Associated Press. “It’s shortsighted not to be protecting the people they absolutely need to ensure that scouting is viable in the future.”
BOY SCOUT COUNCILS COUGH UP THE CASH FOR RAPING KIDS
BOY SCOUT COUNCILS COUGH UP THE CASH FOR RAPING KIDS
BOY SCOUT COUNCILS COUGH UP THE CASH FOR RAPING KIDS
BSA councils to contribute varying amounts to abuse fund
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Boy Scouts of America councils are expected to contribute to a national settlement trust to resolve claims of child sex abuse with contributions from bodies with West Virginia members ranging from less than $190,000 to nearly $6 million.
The Boy Scouts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2020 as the Irving, Texas-based organization faced multiple lawsuits involving people who say they were sexually abused while in the program. Part of the proposed restructuring plan involves payments addressing more than 82,000 claims.
More than 1,000 unique abuse claims have been filed against eight councils with West Virginia units.
“One case of abuse is too many,” Jeffrey Purdy, scout executive of the Buckskin Council, said during an interview with MetroNews. “It’s unfortunate that over the years, people have used the Scouting program to hurt kids. It’s unfortunate and unforgivable.”
Under the proposal, the Boy Scouts and councils would contribute up to $820 million to a victims’ compensation fund; the 251 local councils would put forward $500 million in contributions. In return, the national organization and local chapters would receive legal protection from people who filed claims.
The Hartford, one of the Boy Scouts’ insurers, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have agreed to pay $787 million and $250 million respectively. They would also receive liability protection.
Local councils are legally independent and separate from the national organization and rely on fundraising to operate. Councils own camps, offices and other properties, and hire staff to maintain services, manage funds and recruit organizations to sponsor units. The BSA provides corporate resources and administrative help to councils in addition to guidelines related to program structure.
Councils previously had to purchase insurance policies covering issues including sexual abuse. The Boy Scouts in 1971 began adding councils to its liability insurance policies and agreed in 1978 to procure general liability insurance coverage for all chapters.
The local councils’ contributions will consist of cash and property. According to the Boy Scouts, the amounts were determined after reviewing claims with consideration to what councils could offer while continuing to provide Scouting.
“This is a critical component of the overall plan to emerge from the BSA’s financial restructuring,” the organization said in an email.
“Each Local Council was given discretion to allocate their contribution between cash and property,” the BSA added. “No Local Council is required to sell property and, indeed, many are not. Because Scouting is delivered on a local basis, we believe that it is critical to empower each Local Council to make their contribution in the form they chose.”
According to court documents, $408.4 million of council contributions will be cash.
A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware has received information related to the expectations for each council:
SHENANDOAH AREA COUNCIL
The Shenandoah Area Council is headquartered in Winchester, Virginia, and has units in six Virginia counties and Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson counties in West Virginia.
Twenty-eight claims were filed against the council. The body’s contribution to the compensation fund would be $188,673 in cash.
Shenandoah Area Council Scout Executive Robert Garrett told MetroNews the council is planning to accept donations that the body would dedicate toward the settlement.
“We have some very generous folks that are helping us through the process and are making contributions so it does not affect our current scouts, our future scouts or our program,” he said. “We are looking at several options to fund that will allow us to continue our mission utilizing these volunteers.”
VIRGINIA HEADWATERS COUNCIL
The Virginia Headwaters Council, which operates from Waynesboro, Virginia, has units in western Virginia and West Virginia’s Pendleton County. It was known as the Stonewall Jackson Area Council until November 2019 when the council board approved a name change.
Court documents note 39 unique claims against the council. The council is expected to contribute $287,066 in cash.
MOUNTAINEER AREA COUNCIL
The Mountaineer Area Council has units in 12 counties in northcentral West Virginia and is headquartered in Fairmont. The council faces 41 individual abuse claims.
The expectation for the council is to contribute $527,717, of which $416,717 will be in cash.
According to court documents, the Mountaineer Area Council owns a service center valued at $111,000. The council can sell the property with proceeds going toward the settlement trust.
Council staff directed questions about the settlement to the national organization.
MUSKINGUM VALLEY COUNCIL
Much of the membership of the Muskingum Valley Council, which has central offices in Zanesville, Ohio, consists of counties in eastern and southeastern Ohio. Pleasants County is the only West Virginia county with units in the chapter.
The council faces 47 unique claims, and its listed contribution is $513,391 in cash.
OHIO RIVER VALLEY COUNCIL
The Ohio River Valley Council includes Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, and Tyler counties and some Ohio counties. The council’s main office is in Wheeling.
The council faces 55 unique abuse claims. Its expected contribution is $835,582 in cash and a $60,000 property contribution.
According to Ohio River Valley Council Scout Executive Dan Bettison, the cash contribution will come from money collected from selling unused property. The property contribution will be similar regarding land currently owned by the council.
BUCKSKIN COUNCIL
The Buckskin Council is headquartered in Charleston and consists of 40 counties in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia. The council has grown following several mergers with councils throughout the region.
The chapter has received attention for being home to the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in Fayette County. The site has hosted two National Scout Jamborees and a World Scout Jamboree since opening in 2013.
Court documents show 284 claims and two pending lawsuits against the council.
Purdy, who has served as the area’s scout executive since 2008, said local leaders have agreed to participate in the settlement; the council will contribute $1,890,783 in cash. He added the money will most likely come from a “land fund.”
“Because we merged with several number of councils over the last number of years plus with the building of the national property — the Summit right next to Beckley — we’ve had excess property that we’ve sold,” he explained. “It had been the hope of the board of the Buckskin Council to take the sales of those properties and invest them into an endowment-like fund that would create annual income for the council and perpetuity.”
Purdy expressed disappointment in not being able to use the funds for the original intent but noted the approach would not affect current operations.
“The good news is that what that means is we’re not going to be using any types of donations or funds that we’ve received in the last 50 years for this contribution for the victim’s fund,” he said.
BUCKEYE COUNCIL
The Buckeye Council is headquartered in Canton, Ohio, and has units located in central Ohio and West Virginia’s Hancock County.
The council faces 179 unique abuse claims with two lawsuits pending. It is expected to pay $2,614,529; the chapter’s contribution includes $1,945,529 in cash and $669,000 as a property contribution.
LAUREL HIGHLANDS COUNCIL
Most of the Laurel Highlands Council’s units are located in Pennsylvania, but there are groups in Maryland as well as Grant, Hardy, Hampshire, and Mineral counties in West Virginia. The council operates out of Pittsburgh.
Court documents show 383 claims against the council.
The council’s contribution expectation is $5,972,147. In a statement, the council said the money will come from an unrestricted endowment fund.
“It is important to note that restricted donations can only be used for their designated purposes and are legally protected so that they are used as the donor specified,” the body said.
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA ASSETS
The Boy Scouts will fund its portion of the settlement trust by offering a collection of artwork by Norman Rockwell and other artists, a warehouse facility in North Carolina, oil and gas interests in several states, a 10,000 square-foot building in Texas, and unrestricted cash.
The national organization is not the owner of the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve. Bankruptcy filings show Arrow WV Inc., a nonprofit corporation, owns the property and leases the site to the Boy Scouts for “nominal consideration.” The national organization funded the facility’s construction and currently provides operational services.
ABUSE CLAIM PAYMENTS
Alleged victims had to submit a claim by Nov. 16, 2020 to receive a payment from the bankruptcy plan. According to court documents, 82,200 unique claims were filed.
Consultants for the Boy Scouts estimate the value of the abuse claims ranges between $2.4 billion and $7.1 billion.
Under the proposal, claimants can receive a minimum of $3,500 under expedited distribution. People who do not take this option can submit their abuse claim for an evaluation with the possibility of receiving a payment worth as much as $2.7 million.
Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein on Thursday approved a disclosure statement on the Boy Scouts’ reorganization plan. The BSA will use the first weeks of October to send claimants information packages explaining the reorganization strategy and urging support.
Claimants must submit their ballots by Dec. 14. A confirmation hearing on the results is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2022.
BSA: SCOUTING IS SAFE
When asked if Scouting is a safe program, the Boy Scouts pointed out its policies and programs targeting sexual abuse. All volunteers and employees are required to complete youth protection training and undergo what the BSA describes as “a thorough screening process.” Two adults must also be present at youth activities, and one-on-one situations between adults and scouts are banned.
The organization also noted information filed in the restructuring case showing most claims cite alleged incidents that happened before 1990.
“In other words, a very substantial majority of these claims predate the introduction of the BSA’s modern Youth Protection Protocols,” the Boy Scouts told MetroNews. “While any instance of abuse is one too many, Scouting today is safer than ever before.”
Purdy also touted the national organization’s policies, saying the rules have created a safer environment for children.
“We have refined the protocols over the years to make our Scouting program safe,” he said. “The unfortunate thing is the vast majority of these claims came before youth protection training programs and protocols were known and put into place.
“It’s unfortunate, and we want to do our part for those victims. We also know that we have a very safe program for scouts.”
Ahead of its bankruptcy filing, the Boy Scouts entered a five-year partnership with 1in6, a national nonprofit that provides male survivors of sexual assault with various resources. The BSA said the relationship would allow 1in6 to expand its online helpline and offer more weekly support groups to people abused while in the program.
BSA councils to contribute varying amounts to abuse fund - WV MetroNews