Boy Scouts Settle With Ex-Scout In Sex Abuse Case
DALLAS, Texas (AP) - The Boy Scouts of America have settled a lawsuit filed by a former San Antonio Scout who said his adult leader abused him, officials on both sides said Thursday.
The settlement will not require BSA to turn over any more of its internal files on sexual abuse complaints, which were logged for decades but often not disclosed to authorities.
The deal ends a battle at the Texas Supreme Court, which was considering a lower court's ruling requiring the organization to turn over years of the files.
Paul Mones, an attorney for the former Scout now in his 20s, confirmed the settlement, but declined to discuss its terms. Boy Scouts' spokesman Deron Smith also did not reveal details of the settlement, but said that any instance of child abuse "is intolerable and unacceptable."
"The behavior included in these reports runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands," Smith said in an email.
The Scouts have faced years of lawsuits in several states over the "ineligible volunteer" files, sometimes known as "perversion" files.
A landmark Oregon case filed against the organization led to the disclosure of decades of files up to 1985. Those files included handwritten letters alleging abuse by adult Scoutmasters entrusted with managing troops of children. In some cases, officials tried to stop prosecutions to protect the reputation of Scouting.
Boy Scouts now require any abuse to be reported to law enforcement and has enacted several changes in policy to improve
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