Publication under Oregon court order shows coverup of 20 years of abuse
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A high court in the state of Oregon in the US ordered the publication online Thursday of some 14,500 pages of records held by the Boy Scouts of America that show sexual abuse from 1965 to 1985 by 1,200 head scouts. The scale of the abuse and the coverup is causing a ripple of shock through the US media, which refers regularly to the importance of scouting to 20th century America, and to the coverups justified too often with language that refers to saving the good name of scouting. Long articles on the new data base of victims provide several concrete examples that are the tip of the iceberg, with thousands of victims’ stories recorded by the Scouts.
CBS News reports: “Again and again, decade after decade, an array of authorities — police chiefs, prosecutors, pastors and local Boy Scout leaders among them — quietly shielded scoutmasters and others accused of molesting children, a newly opened trove of confidential papers shows.”
The New York Times, asks about the future of the Boy Scouts of America, noting that “Child protection experts say that the efforts in recent years by the Boy Scouts to better track, report and train youth leaders, and its humility in admitting failure, are all laudable steps, but that much more is needed by an organization that built its name and reputation on trust.”
The NY Times ran an article Thursday about the close ties between the Mormons and the Boy Scouts of America, stating that one-third of all Scout units and 15 percent of all registered Scouts in the US are Mormon, a relationship with close ties that is likely to now be raised in political circles, with Mitt Romney, a Mormon, running for president.
