Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Mormons being sued over Boy Scouts abuse cover-up

Mormons being sued over Boy Scouts abuse cover-up

Last updated on: December 30, 2020 at 3:16 pm by Barry Duke

Mormons being sued over Boy Scouts abuse cover-up 2020-12-30T15:16:04+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

FOR almost 100 years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) was an ardent supporter of the Boy Scouts of America, but broke ties with the organisation at the beginning of 2020 over its ‘sinful’ acceptance of gay youth members and adult volunteers as well as girls and transgender boys. It pulled more than 400,000 young people from the BSA.

But during the time it supported the BSA it brushed aside allegations made by Mormon scouts that they had been abused – and the church was yesterday (Monday) hit with several lawsuits alleging that it covered up “decades of sexual abuse among Boy Scout troops in Arizona.”

Image via YouTube

Church spokesman Sam Penrod, above, said in a statement that the LDS has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind and that the serious allegations require thorough investigation.

He called it inaccurate to say the faith had access to files that had names of banned Scout leaders and said the church hasn’t seen the records that allegedly back the accusations.

The claim that the church has had access to the BSA ineligible volunteer files for many decades is simply false.

The church learned about the details of those files at the same time as the general public. These claims will be carefully evaluated and appropriately addressed.

Hurley McKenna & Mertz, a law firm that focuses on church sex abuse, said in a statement that the LDS:

Must be held accountable in order to bring healing and closure to Mormon victims of childhood sexual abuse.

In the seven lawsuits each representing seven different male victims, attorneys say church officials never notified authorities about abuse allegations. Public records show members of church-sponsored Boy Scout troops who were abused would tell church bishops about what they had experienced.

The lawsuits allege bishops would then tell the victims to keep quiet so the church could conduct its own investigation. In the meantime, troop leaders and volunteers accused of sex abuse would be allowed to continue in their roles or be assigned to another troop, the suits say.

All seven victims are asking for a jury to award an unspecified sum for medical expenses, pain and suffering. They are also seeking punitive damages for the “outrageous conduct” of church officials.

The church sponsored at least seven troops in Arizona in metro Phoenix and Tucson, according to attorneys. The suits were all filed earlier this month – six in Maricopa County Superior Court and one in Pima County Superior Court.

The allegations of sexual abuse involve all troops between 1972 and 2009. After breaking with the BSA, the church moved its youngsters into its own global youth programme that “focuses on religion and spiritual development,” while weaving in camping and other outdoor activities in parts of the world where that’s feasible.

In its first step toward creating a compensation fund for men who were abused as youngsters years ago by scoutmasters or other leaders, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection in February. Around 90,000 sexual abuse claims have been filed against the organisation. It was the latest major American institution to seek bankruptcy protection amid mounting legal pressures over allegations of sexual abuse.

Roman Catholic dioceses across the country and some universities have paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years. These suits come as a window to pursue litigation for some victims of childhood sexual abuse in Arizona is about to close. The state joined several others last year in extending the rights of now-adult victims to sue their alleged assailants and any churches, youth groups or other institutions that turned a blind eye at the time of the abuse.

Lawmakers gave victims until their 30th birthday to sue — a decade longer than before. Victims who missed the cutoff have a one-time opportunity to file suit before the end of the year. Arizona has no deadline for criminal charges in child sexual abuse cases.

Andrew Van Arsdale, a lawyer with Abused in Scouting, says the legal network is filing 261 sex abuse lawsuits in Arizona on Monday against various local Scout councils.

• Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

News

Boy Scouts of America

Sam Penrod

Sexual abuse

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Previous Post

December 29, 2020

Op-ed: Defending the Honour of Mr God

Next Post

December 30, 2020 Media watchdog blasts BBC over 'Black Palestinian Jesus' programme

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian tradition is famous for the musical "Gregorian chant"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Presbyterian Roman Catholic Methodist Anglican

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »