Boy Scouts Forced To Reveal Scope Of Abuse

Lawsuit Over Abuse By Seattle Scoutmaster In 1980s Opens Window Into Scouting Files Dating To 1946

(AP)  Like many other boys who grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the early 1980s, Tom and Matt Stewart shared a rugged childhood of hikes, campouts and fishing trips, most of it thanks to the Boy Scouts of America.

It was a program that kept the brothers involved in their Federal Way troop all the way to Eagle Scout. Years later, Tom became a Scoutmaster for his own sons.

But as they became adults and moved a thousand miles apart, each privately struggled with memories of Scouting that neither wanted to talk about: the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of their Scoutmaster, Bruce Phelps.

Matt Stewart would grow queasy at the sight of young Scouts in uniform. Tom Stewart suffered nightmares of fighting off Phelps' advances.

Finally, after decades of silence, the Stewart brothers grew convinced they weren't alone. In 2003, they sued the Boy Scouts and their former Scoutmaster and won an out-of-court settlement.

Four years later, the case has become a landmark in the 97-year history of the Boy Scouts, and the brothers spokesmen for a much larger issue. For the first time, the Boy Scouts of America has been forced to turn over, to the Stewarts' attorneys, its entire archive on sexually abusive Scout leaders.

The previously private records show the Boy Scouts have ejected at least 5,100 adult leaders nationwide for sexual abuse allegations since 1946. And the files reveal that despite efforts to keep potential abusers from joining, the problems persist: In the past 15 years alone, the organization has kicked out leaders for such allegations at a rate of once every other day.

The 45 boxes of files are not public because of a strict court order that prohibits the Stewarts and their lawyers from disclosing specific cases. But a statistical summary of the files, provided by the Stewarts' attorneys, shows the problem is larger than previously known.

Boy Scouts officials won't talk about the cases, but point out that ejected volunteers represent a small fraction of the 1.2 million adults who participate in Scouting every year. They also stress that they now have rules, including background checks and training, that didn't exist when Phelps was abusing Scouts.

But the Stewart brothers, now in their 40s, still grapple with the damage done by a single Scoutmaster. Phelps declined to be interviewed, but he has admitted abusing the brothers and two other boys in sworn testimony.

"The Boy Scouts is very unique because there is a very dangerous bond between Scout and Scoutmaster," explained Tom Stewart, now a 44-year-old Boeing engineer who lives near Enumclaw. "You are out in the middle of nowhere on an outing, and the Scoutmaster is God."

"I was constantly scared"

About five years ago, Matt Stewart was sitting on a beach in California, reading a newspaper story about sex abuse by Catholic priests, when he felt a chill of recognition. He saw the victims' trauma in his own life: work problems, a pattern of failed relationships, a deep distrust of authority.

"I knew that I had lost my youth," said Stewart, now a 42-year-old pharmaceutical salesman who lives in Palm Desert, Calif. "But I never knew why until then."

He called his brother Tom with the epiphany. Over the next few months, their pain congealed into anger. "We both had blocked out a lot of what happened to us," said Tom Stewart.

The Stewarts grew up as overachievers in Federal Way's Dash Point neighborhood: Straight-A students, musicians and athletes.

Their mother had urged them to join the Boy Scouts and had introduced them to Phelps, a teenage Eagle Scout who lived down the street and had his own Jeep.

Tom Stewart recalls his excitement as a second-grader when Phelps offered him a ride home after one of his first Cub Scout meetings. Along the way, according to Stewart, Phelps pulled over and performed oral sex on him. Matt Stewart also says he was about a second-grader when Phelps molested him during a fishing trip on Elliott Bay.

The abuse, including oral and anal sex, persisted all the way through high school, the brothers say: at Scout outings and camps, at a drive-in movie theater, at Phelps' house in West Seattle, and even in the Stewarts' own basement while their parents were upstairs.

Their parents let them spend entire weekends at Phelps' house on the pretext of working on merit badges, even after Phelps had grown up and moved to West Seattle, where he led another Scout troop.

"He would say, 'OK, that knot looks fine; you got your merit badge — now let's have sex,'" said Matt.

The Stewarts say they stayed quiet about the abuse because Phelps threatened to shoot their parents — or himself. They say they believed him because he often carried a revolver. "I was constantly scared," said Matt Stewart.

Phelps denied making the threats in a deposition for the Stewarts' lawsuit.

Matt Stewart didn't break his silence until age 25, in late 1989, when he called Seattle police.

[sgtrds]

I was a Scout for 5 years when I was a kid and there were always rumors about things like this happening, but I never saw anything like it first hand so I just thought it was kids trying to get Scoutmasters they didn''t like in trouble. It is troubling however to find out that the Scouts knew these cases were going on, but still "The organization aggressively guards the contents of the files". This is not the kind of honor I always thought they were trying to teach.

[nyckate]

OMG - this is horrible - there is literally no area that the animals haven''t infilitrated to abuse children.

That the agencies, churches, synagogues, schools, etc. knew about and protected themselves and the abuser not the child is reprehensible - utterly reprehensible.

[mswolfestock]

Tom Stewart said, "Everything in your life is tainted by being abused as a boy." This is true of any kind of abuse of children, girls or boys. He happens to be right. I was physically abused by my father, and I''m convinced I won''t be free of those horrible memories until I''m dead. Abusers leave their victims feeling half-dead, and a lot of us will feel this way for the rest of our lives.

This is why all child abusers should be put to death.

[rushman71]

I was in Boy Scouts from the fall of ''82 to the fall of ''84 and I did not know of any of these type of occurances. But looking at this article makes me feel sick for the people who went through these tough childhood times. It was bad enough today to see the Catholic Church being looked upon as a pedophile religion. Now info of this that has been going around for years!!! Ok, perverts, where are you going to strike next? Pee wee baseball league teams?

[superdem]

It is important to remember that not all gay people are pedophiles, and that there are strait pedophiles. Anyone who preys on children sexually is a sick predator and deserves the fullest prosecution the law allows. I''m afraid stories like this just reinforce prejudice against all gay people, and reinforce the Boy Scouts intolerant and homophobic strictures against gay scouts. Separate issues need to be treated separately.

[jdubs63]

superdem... great post... thanks

[rushman71]

superdem: I have to say that this story is not about homosexuality but about adults forcing se xual acts on minorities, in other words, pedophilia!!!

[book54552134]

2 facts most of the public are unaware of regarding this issue -

- Nearly 90% of pedophiles are heterosexual.

- Nearly 20% of pedophiles are women.

[wiccantexan]

But they keep out gay Scoutmasters because of "morality" issues. Incredible.

[xavia1-2009]

how in the world are there so many sick, pathetic, disgusting *** offenders/pedophiles out there? where the h*ll do they come from? there''s too many of them! get rid of them! i was reading a story earlier about the Jessica Lunsford guy getting the death penalty and thank god. i never used to believe in the death penalty. in the last few years i''ve begun to change my mind. there are some people who just don''t need to be on earth. it''s not even about justice (well, i mean that too), but it''s just about ridding this place of perverted predators, and murderers. just make ''em all go away.

[rosesnpearls]

It''s bigger than protecting the organization; they were trying to protect an ideal. The purposes and missions of these organizations are for and do very, very good things in the world and these sick, perverted people hurt individuals, families and the greater good done by organizations. The leaders in the orgs are in some way victims just like the families of the kids - the humiliation and shame seems to infiltrate the victims even though it''s not their fault. Like parents try to cover it up, leaders try to cover it, too, to protect the mission of the orgs. It''s a terrible, terrible circle and selfish, sinful humans cause it.

[shanev137]

I wonder if this article as made anyone want to be a Scout leader.

[bb19631]

This article just made me sick to my stomach. Those poor kids, I mean adults now., having to endure years of abuse. MY prayers go out to them.

[bareemperor]

My brother told me of his sexual abuse at the hands of the scout leaders - I thought he might be exaggerating. Evidently not...

[inventagod]

superdem - let''s not continue to tie pedophiles to gay people, it''s unfair and inflammatory. The leaders who assaulted these kids were not gay, they were perverted and cruel. Otherwise, great post!

[gkc99]

This is why the BSA has every justification to ban *** as leaders. The argument that these are not ***, they are pedophiles, just doesn''t fly. The "boys" involved in BSA are young men, sexually mature young men. Just as a young woman who has achieved sexual maturity might be attractive to a heterosexual male (and why not, for most of human history 16 year olds were married), these Boy Scouts are sexually attractive to homosexual men. These are not little boys! So it makes good sense to exclude gay men from spending nights in tents with 15 year old "boys" just like it makes good sense to exclude heterosexual men from spending nights in tents with 15 year old young women.

PC or not, that''s the truth! I was a Boy Scout and I know.

[gkc99]

My goodness, CBS sees fit to censor the word G*A*Y. Isn''t that the PC term for homosexuals?

[gkc99]

So is it gay, ***, homos, ***, queers, nellies, or what word is banned by CBS? No slur intended, just curious.

And they shouldn''t be Boy Scout leaders. let them go play weenie games with guys their own ages!

[archangelric]

again,for the less literate, we are talking about pedophiles, not g*a*y*s. The TRUTH is that most of the pedophiles, if not all, were MARRIED. Duh!

The fact that these were young men has nothing to do with it; for most pedophiles the attraction is that they are forcing the child and that it is "dirty". Again, these were primarily married men.

The rabid homophobia displayed below, typically, has no relationship to reality, nor does it help. Understanding what causes pedophilia, how to insure that there are avenues for communication / safety / protection for the children does help.

look folks, pedophilia (sexual love of children) is NOT limited to the human race, it happens in several species; it is a part of nature. What needs to be done is to find these afflicted and teach control, redirection. In some cases the attraction is insecurity dealing with other adults vs children and that can be addressed.

If we quit the national enquirer mindset and look at reality we can alleviate this issue.

[gkc99]

"again,for the less literate, we are talking about pedophiles, not g*a*y*s. The TRUTH is that most of the pedophiles, if not all, were MARRIED. Duh!"--Posted by archangelric


So what? Many gay men are married as a cover.

And how could you POSSIBLY, by any stretch of the imagination, know what motivates these guys? Are you one of them? If not, kindly spare me your condescending errors of reason.

"look folks, pedophilia (sexual love of children) is NOT limited to the human race, it happens in several species; it is a part of nature. What needs to be done is to find these afflicted and teach control, redirection. In some cases the attraction is insecurity dealing with other adults vs children and that can be addressed."

The first thing that needs to be done is to protect their victims. Then, and only then can we start worrying about "redirecting" these rapists. Some of them might to good advantage be "redirected" into a shallow grave, IMHO. But in any event, there should be no opportunities given to homosexuals to rape our teenage boys.

[gkc99]

"The Boy Scouts also recently began doing background checks on prospective leaders. But only new volunteers are checked. Millions of current leaders go unscreened. " [article]

Every time the BSA even TRIES to keep these boy-raping perverts out of leadership positions, the PC among us (e.g. archangelric) scream bloody murder about "discrimination." Municipalities now ban the BSA from having meetings on public property, like schools and libraries, because the BSA "discriminates" againt homosexuals. Then articles like this beat them up because they don''t do enough!

BSA, as a private organization, has EVERY RIGHT to take reasonable steps to keep potential boy-rapers away from the Scouts. And then they get lectured about how its some other group of pervs, not "G*A*Y*S" that are really doing it. That might be true if the victim is 5 or 6. But when they are 15 or 16, sexual "preference" might very well play a role. Until we know for sure, better safe than sorry. AT least the BSA has tried to address the issue, which is more than we can say for the Catholic Church.

[godofredo29]

HELLO! What took the media so long to look into this? Everytime there was a pedophile priest scandal, I thought: "Here it comes. They''re going to realize that the same thing has been going on in the Boy Scouts." We Scouts knew it was. I think the hold up was the media was campaigning so hard to see that *** were allowed in the Scouts that they couldn''t let this other issue get in their way and they just decided to cover it up. If it''s a men''s issue that''s easy to do.

[ringading3]

Because not enough men are volunteering to be Scout Leaders, in some troops have woman leaders. When a woman leader began to phone my son and have long coversations "about a project", it merited a closer look. Once I had proof that this married woman, with a son in her own troop, was not acting in an appropriate way, I confronted her. When she denied everything, I then took the "tape" to the man in charge of Scouting in my city. It was not a police matter, but the Scouts immediately "accepted" her resignation. I made sure all the Scoutmasters in the area knew the real story why she "suddenly resigned". Hope the witch has not wormed her way back into contact with teen boys. Bottom line: TRUST NO ONE when it comes to your kids!

[keithle1]

Get your sons out of the Boy Scouts now. Grown men involved with the Boy Scouts have one thing on their mind and it ain''t merit badges & hiking. Creepy.

Boy Scouts & the Catholic Church. eeeewwwwww.

[gkc99]

"Get your sons out of the Boy Scouts now. Grown men involved with the Boy Scouts have one thing on their mind and it ain''''t merit badges & hiking. Creepy.
Boy Scouts & the Catholic Church. eeeewwwwww."
Posted by Keithle1

Sounds like youre the sicko, "Keithie". My boys were in scouts and it was just fine, the leaders were the boys'' fathers. Or are we all homos?

[nothappyatall]

The 45 boxes of files are not public because..."

BECAUSE the scouts, like the church are right wingers who HIDE their dirty secrets, and like the church paying out MILLIONS to lawsuits, so should the scouts.
Scouting, daycare, teaching, pastoring and any job that puts pedophiles in charge of or around children is the job they GO FOR.

LOL the scouts descriminate against G@YS yet they clealy thrwo out over 5,100 PEDOPHILES from their own ranks who are HETERO!

[rudy654-2009]

But in any event, there should be no opportunities given to homosexuals to rape our teenage boys. Posted by gkc99 at 07:30 PM : Aug 24, 2007

Oh, so you think it''s okay for them to rape if they''re not homosexuals? No, you didn''t say that, right? But somehow it''s right there with your agenda of accusing only one segment of society, while overlooking the rest. Those who have said it know, pedophilia isn''t about homosexuality, it''s about perversion period. It''s about control over someone who is weaker and more vulnerable. It is in the same category with those who rape, whether they''re heterosexual or not. Meanwhile, the media, which you all feed on, promotes all kinds of perversions that everyone wants to deny has anything to do with the conduct of these perpetrators.

[gkc99]

"LOL the scouts descriminate against G@YS yet they clealy thrwo out over 5,100 PEDOPHILES from their own ranks who are HETERO!"
Posted by newster1

The Scouts try to keep the GAY boy-rapers out, but the **** groups all get up in arms, don''t you newster1?

[gkc99]

"But somehow it''''s right there with your agenda of accusing only one segment of society, while overlooking the rest. Those who have said it know, pedophilia isn''''t about homosexuality, it''''s about perversion period."--Posted by rudy654

Pedophiles go after children. 14 and 15 year old boys are not children, and cannot be manipulated like children. Thus they are unlikely targets for the classic pedophiles. We are talking about sexually mature, but vulnerable, teenage boys with supercharged hormones. Why should such young men NOT be sexually arousing to homosexuals? And why should the Boy Scouts take the risk of allowing them to share tents with the possible objects of their lust?

If someone is stealing the ship''s rum, it''s not discrimination to look first at the known alcoholics.

[rudy654-2009]

Pedophiles go after children. 14 and 15 year old boys are not children, and cannot be manipulated like children. Thus they are unlikely targets for the classic pedophiles. We are talking about sexually mature, but vulnerable, teenage boys with supercharged hormones. Why should such young men NOT be sexually arousing to homosexuals? And why should the Boy Scouts take the risk of allowing them to share tents with the possible objects of their lust?

If someone is stealing the ship''''s rum, it''''s not discrimination to look first at the known alcoholics.
Posted by gkc99 at 09:52 PM : Aug 24, 2007

Excuse me, are you saying that only 14 or 15 year olds are allowed to be boy scouts??? That little distortion tells me a lot right there. And that nonsense of inbred hatred you got going tells me that you are probably projecting something about yourself.

[aznyron-2009]

as a former boy scout I would like to educate the ignorant cub scout is between 8 & 12 yrs old boy scout is between 12 & 15 years old and explorer scout is 15 and older I was never abused by a scout leader but I was in the B/S when we had leaders not perverts who lusted after young children let me post my opinion any org. that hide records of child abuse such as the B/S or the Catholic Church is just as guilty as the pervert commiting those horrible crimes against our young children today I am a grand Parent of 3
and any one touches my g/kids I will ripped they F**** eyes out and then stomped them to death and I dont give a f*** about the courts or any one else screwed up ideas of healing the sick f***ers

[karen091866]

OK--I''m freaking out not only @ the horror detailed in this story--but the fact that this DEGENERATE works with the PUBLIC, probably entering people''s homes to perform service calls.. @ the Power & Light Company?!?!?!?!

Helloooo--Getting married doesn''t make you less of a freak! What kind of female would ... never mind. Totally perverse.

Where''s the Clorox bleach when you need it? Sen this poor woman some---and QUICKLY.

[jankebenz]

I spent a significant portion of my youth with the scouts and learned a lot of vauluable life skills. There was commradeship amoung the boys and we looked up to the men who directed and led us. But that was back in the early 60,s when truth, honor, and God were still part of the scout movment ,and when boys were raised to be real men.

[toldyouso21]

"Their mother had urged them to join the Boy Scouts and had introduced them to Phelps, a teenage Eagle Scout who lived down the street and had his own Jeep. "

I''ll say it again: MOLESTATION IS LARGELY A CRIME OF OPPORTUNITY. And it is usually too trusting parents that turn their kids over to molesters and do not suspect them.

Things most parents do not want to believe or know:

Most molesters of young boys are married men with kids of their own. the kids/wife are a cover. ANY MALE that appears too interested in your boys--probably IS too interested in your boys.

although molestation can take place at any time, the easiest time, is at sleep overs.

Molesters can be as young as 10 (molesting their 7 year old sister''s sleepover guest) to 101 or older. Have ***--will penetrate.

Women can be molesters also, but by and large, the molester of kids (boys and girls) are men who claim to be heterosexual and are usually married. Often they are relatives like an uncle, cousin or dad or brother.

Women assume other women will watch their kids, but sometimes, those other women are too trusting of their mates or other men and put your kid in jeopardy.

see next post

[toldyouso21]

The fact is, Americans hide from the idea of molestation and either do not admit or don''t want to accept that the scout leader, choir director, band teacher, hockey coach, great uncle, etc wants to harm their kids--but it is a crime of opportunity. So,,,,,, WHO are you trusting with your kids.

No sleepovers for my kids unless all males are gone and I drop by for treats and games and stay a while myself. No school sleepovers. Not band, cheerleading, NONE...do you know what happens when your kids are away from home.

And word to the wise, background checks only catch CONFIRMED molesters. It does not catch the career ones that no one has told on yet. When a grown man wants to spend time with your son, and is not related and is not close to you (or even if he is) beware, if he is close to you, then he needs to spend time with both of you NOT just your son. Ladies, beware of men who claim to be interested in you but are overly interested in your kids. Men have practically a fetish for the tight butts of boys and young girls. (Sodomy)

[toldyouso21]

People need to stop saying that rape is not about ***. Sure it is, it is about power and control also, but mostly it is about nutting.

It is the entire taboo, force and getting an *** thrown in to boot. don''t downplay the *** part, because that is the part that destroys others. If it was just about power and control, people would just enslave others, not rape them. Those who rape get a thrill out of it and out of the act itself--make no mistake.

[toldyouso21]

Pedophiles go after children. 14 and 15 year old boys are not children, and cannot be manipulated like children. Posted by gkc99 at 09:52 PM : Aug 24, 2007


Obviously your knowledge of rape, child abuse and pedophilia is not very high. Pedophiles may prefer adolescent or younger kids. Some don''t want a kid over 8, others not over 12 and still others take it all the way to 17.The fact is a 15 or 16 year old is emotionally and mentally still a child and can be manipulated. Just in different ways.

the nitty gritty about why many pedophiles only like really young children is because they do not want any odors, genital hair or anything else to remind them that the person is growing up. A child begins to have hormones and their personal scent changes at about 12 to 14, so this is the cut off age for die hard pedophiles that only want to destroy children. Still, there are some that like to exploit those on the verge of growing up. the other attraction is that emotionally, pedophiles and other rapists are warped and immature, invariably they "think" they are the same age as their victim and do not want someone that can ''outhink'' or second guess them. But there are several types of pedaphiles and though some are homosexual, most are heterosexual men, same as the profile for those who rape and murder kids--94% are heterosexual men.

[Ed0719]

Why should such young men NOT be sexually arousing to homosexuals? And why should the Boy Scouts take the risk of allowing them to share tents with the possible objects of their lust?

If someone is stealing the ship''''s rum, it''''s not discrimination to look first at the known alcoholics.
Posted by gkc99 at 09:52 PM : Aug 24, 2007


Just because you obviously have no self-control over your sexual urges, you project your own weaknesses upon everyone else? As a happily contented adult gay male, I''m just as capable of being monogamous and faithful to my one partner, which I assume is the same of many heterosexual married men. I have absolutely no desire to rape or molest anyone of any age. But I guess since you think everyone must be sexual predators who can''t control themselves, you must fight those urges yourself. How dangerous are YOU?

[thinkplease]

A couple of things here:

1) Pedophiles are in every organization, from youth sports, schools, churches, safety officials, etc, etc, etc. They are men/women/old/young/bald/red headed/martian aliens, etc, etc, etc. As parents, we need to make sure that we are involved with these and not to just "drop off the kids, go to the store, come back later and pick them up". Get to know the coaches, leaders, friend''s parents, and so on.
Get involved with the organization, find out what thier policies, training, and safety procedures are. Find out why people are there, are they parents of a player, singer, scout, whatever.

2) Talk to your kids, but more importantly - LISTEN with your ears and eyes. They might be trying to tell us something through their actions and words, but we are so busy we do not notice.

[thinkplease]

3) As a scout leader, let me tell you about the safety policies that we have. These are nationwide, and any leader caught breaking them can be removed from scouting for the rest of their life. whether anything was going on or not. This is NOT to protect the scouting organizations, but are there to protect OUR/YOUR children.
A) 2 Deep Policy. At no time is an adult to be with a child without either 2 or more children present, or another adult.
B) Leaders are NOT permitted to sleep in a tent/hut/cabin with a scout unless that scout is thier own child. If Fred wants to sleep in the same tent as my son, I have to leave the tent and sleep under a tree.
C) All scouts (leaders included) are required to watch a safety video on abuse, and to learn to recongize the signs of a pedophile (yes - 95% all use the same patterns to gain the child''s trust) and to speak up if they feel uncomfortable around someone, and to yell/scream/punch - to do whatever it takes, to get away from them and get someone to listen. All leaders/volunteers are required to attend a different training from what the scouts learn to keep updated on new policies as well as refreshing the old. We get cards showing that we are trained. Ask, if your child''s leader does not have one, find out why.

[thinkplease]

Lastly - parents, be viligent about where your kids are going, who they are going to be with, and what they are doing. Be aware of anyone who is older than your child (a 15 y/o intrested in a 10 y/o or an adult) who is taking too much intrest in them. It might be nothing, but it could be more.

[colonieny]

ACLU STARTS OWN OPEN SCOUT TROOPS

This article seems like a hit piece against a very decent American orgainization, run by very decent men and women.
Some years ago they went after the Scouts by not allowing girls in.
Then they ruined a great relationship with the federal gov''t to use some park and gov''t miliary space for their camping, which had been a tradition for over 100 years, thanks ACLU.
Now this.
At the same time the very media, and ACLU types do all they can to "protect" the names of *** offenders, and their locations, so all us decent people live on edge. Thanks again for sticking up for the perverts, and at the same time attacking all things American and Decent. What organiztions do you ACLU types have for kids to build character and explore the wilderness ? None. Would you desciminiate against gay leaders and campers , and separatation of gender ? I am waiting to see ... The point is ACLU types are destoyers and not builders.

[oldpilot954]

Diligence on everyone''s part is the only way to prevent such tradgies. I work with my son''s Scout Troop. When I first went through the Scoutmaster training, I was very impressed with the procedures that are in place to protect the boys. I am still impressed. They are better than my kid''s public school and better than my church. Those rules, if followed, not only protect the boys but they protect the adult leaders from false accusations. Of course, for the procedures to work you have to be diligent to conform with them. Our troop tries to encourage parents to take the child-protection training so that they know and understand the rules also. We have canceled camping trips when we could not get enough leaders to assure safety of the boys. That is a hard decision when the boys are all ready and an Assistant Scoutmaster has an unforseen reasin to cancel at the last minute. But it is the safe way.
I do have a question. Mr. Stewart makes the statement "I cannot be a leader in an organization that does not protect boys." What would satisfy him (other than a large legal settlement) that we are protecting boys or how can we protect the boys? We do background checks, we are never out of sight of the group with a boy, we have two adults on every trip, and we train the boys to protect themselves. What else can we do?