PORTLAND, Ore. — There is a history in Oregon with Boy Scouts of America.
Some say what is happening with the organization now can be traced back to a 2010 case in Portland in which a victim of abuse was awarded nearly $20 million and a judge ordered the release of what's known as the perversion files. Those were documents kept by the scouts that detailed decades of alleged abuse.
“Without those 12 people on the Portland, Oregon, jury rendering that verdict, without Judge Wittmayer allowing the order to use those ‘perversion files’ in court, we would not be where we are today," said Paul Mones, an attorney on that case. "There is no doubt in my mind that the 2010 case here in Oregon we tried was the watershed moment for Boy Scouts of America."
The bankruptcy filing by BSA was not a surprise, but it has left some victims of abuse upset.
Attorney Ashley Vaughn is representing an Oregon man who said he and his three brothers were sexually abused by a scout leader in the 1960s. The man filed his case two years ago and was about to go trial, but it is now on hold because of the bankruptcy proceedings.
“Our client has been waiting 50 years for justice and a chance to have his day in court and he feels like the rug has been pulled out from under his feet because we were supposed to start picking a jury on Friday, we'd been gearing up for trial and now everything kind of comes to a halt,” Vaughn explained.
As a result of the filing, he may never get a jury trial now. Instead, all cases will likely go through a different adjudication process. He released the following statement:
We were going to start picking a jury in my trial this Friday, February 21. How do I feel about the Boy Scouts of America filing for bankruptcy? Like I’ve been running 60 miles an hour and just hit a brick wall.
I was molested by a Scout leader in 1967 and 1968, when I was in the Cub Scouts and my three brothers were in a Boy Scout troop in Oregon City. He was the leader of their troop. He often took us camping, hiking, or swimming, and then badly abused all four of us at his house afterwards.
I sued BSA two years ago because I finally understood the damage the abuse caused in my life. I wanted accountability and justice for the wrong the Boy Scouts did to me and my brothers by failing to protect us from a known child abuser. Now my chance to ask a jury to decide my case and award compensation is gone.
I see BSA’s bankruptcy as another betrayal. Instead of my story coming out, and the bigger story of BSA history of child molestation, the focus is going to be on BSA’s assets and a bankruptcy plan. That’s just more cover up.
And meanwhile, I have to wait another two or three years, or however long this bankruptcy might take, before my claim will be resolved in the bankruptcy court. I’ve been working on my lawsuit for two years already. More delay is a hard hit.
This filing also means there is now a time limit on when victims can file claims.
“By grouping everything together in this process they’re providing a hard deadline for when people have to bring claims, which could have a severe impact on people who haven’t come forward yet because if they miss that deadline, or don’t get the notice, or miss the notice, or like so many of our clients they just don’t realize, 'this has had a really traumatic impact on my life or they’re just not ready to come forward yet,' that could potentially make it so they can’t bring a claim in the future,” Vaughn explained.
Then there is the question of what this means for local Boy Scout chapters. The local councils are separate legal organizations that are financially independent, so they are continuing business as usual and are not part of the bankruptcy filing.
BSA said it filed for bankruptcy to equitably compensate victims who were harmed during their time in scouting and to continue carrying out its mission for years to come.
