SEATTLE, Wash., Aug. 24, 2007
Boy Scouts Forced To Reveal Scope Of Abuse
Lawsuit Over Abuse By Seattle Scoutmaster In 1980s Opens Window Into Scouting Files Dating To 1946
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Last year, the Boy Scouts were forced to turn over all confidential files on adult leaders accused of wrongdoing as part of a lawsuit filed by Matt, left, and Tom Stewart, brothers who were abused by their Scoutmaster in the 1980s. They received this West Seattle house, at rear, where they had been molested, in a settlement and quickly sold it. (AP/Mike Siegel, The Seattle Times)
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Despite Phelps' confession, the case was closed without charges being filed because the statute of limitations had expired, the detective wrote. Phelps has never been convicted of a crime.
But the detective included this note about Phelps: "He never once, during our conversation, stated or indicated he had lost his attraction for younger males."
Phelps' name wasn't added to the Boy Scouts' secret "Ineligible Volunteers Files" until the Stewarts sued in 2003. The organization would later say the lawsuit was the first time anyone had complained about him.
And there have been complaints about thousands of other Scout leaders in the U.S. In fact, since its founding in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America has kept files on volunteers it considers "unfit," including sexual abusers, criminals and even homosexuals. The organization has periodically purged the files, according to depositions in other cases.
As early as 1935, the organization had files on about 1,000 "degenerates." The Stewarts' attorneys counted 732 files from 1946 to 1971.
Gregg Shields, a spokesman for the national Boy Scouts office in Irving, Texas, said the files are intended to prevent ejected Scout leaders from bouncing to new leadership roles among the 300 councils nationwide. "It is merely a suspicion or belief — a question of fitness of an individual in the Boy Scouts," he said. "We are a private organization and we can extend leadership positions to whomever we see fit."
The organization aggressively guards the contents of the files, but has been forced to turn over portions of them a handful of times. To get the full set, the Stewarts' attorneys fought the Boy Scouts up to the Washington Supreme Court.
In the early 1990s, California attorney Michael Rothschild, who had represented a boy in a sex-abuse suit against the Scouts, obtained two decades' worth of the files. He handed them over to a journalist, Patrick Boyle, whose book, "Scout's Honor," is an extensive history of sex abuse in Scouting.
"You can look at those files two ways," Rothschild said. "They were making a conscientious effort to identify offenders, and the Boy Scouts of America could be commended for that. Or in my case, there was a lack of awareness or sophistication about warning signs about people that may be a danger."
The secrecy of the files has also meant that the Boy Scouts have kept them from their own sex-abuse advisers, a group of respected experts first convened in the late 1980s to help craft a youth-protection program.
During the past 15 years, the group repeatedly suggested that the Boy Scouts study the files to see whether their prevention measures were working, said one adviser, David Finkelhor, who heads the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. But the Scouts' lawyers rebuffed the recommendation, Finkelhor said.
Because of that resistance, it's impossible to know whether the organization has overcome the "reputation or mythology" that has developed about sexual abuse in Scouting, Finkelhor said. "I really can't tell you about whether there's any validity to it or not — and don't think anyone can."
Tim Kosnoff, a Seattle attorney who, with attorney Mark Honeywell, represented the Stewarts in their suit, called it ridiculous that they had to do the research instead.
"The Boy Scouts sell an image," he said. "If parents even knew there was this kind of statistical record, I believe they wouldn't trust their children with the Scouts."
"A Learning Experience"
Phelps is now a balding, 54-year-old Seattle City Light employee who lives in West Seattle. After holding leadership posts in three troops in the Puget Sound area, most recently Troop 288 in West Seattle, he reported in testimony that he quit the Boy Scouts in the mid-1980s.
Phelps has repeatedly declined interview requests both by phone and through his attorney.
By Jonathan Martin, The Seattle Times
© MMVII, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 43 CommentsI 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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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)
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.
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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.
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
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.
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 newster1
The Scouts try to keep the GAY boy-rapers out, but the **** groups all get up in arms, don''t you newster1?
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.
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!
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?
Boy Scouts & the Catholic Church. eeeewwwwww.
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