Boy Scouts of America, hobbled by multiple sex-abuse lawsuits, files for bankruptcy protection

[Dennis Donovan]

Source: NBC News

Feb. 18, 2020, 12:45 AM EST / Updated Feb. 18, 2020, 1:04 AM EST

By Corky Siemaszko

The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy protection.

Facing mounting legal costs from defending itself against lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of boys, the venerable nonprofit sought Chapter 11 protection in a court filing early Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America said in a statement that the filing had "two key objectives: equitably compensate victims who were harmed during their time in Scouting and continue carrying out its mission for years to come. The BSA intends to use the Chapter 11 process to create a Victims Compensation Trust that would provide equitable compensation to victims."

The Boy Scouts said that only the national organization had filed for Chapter 11 and that local councils that provide programming and other services are financially independent.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boy-scouts-america-hobbled-multiple-sex-abuse-lawsuits-declares-bankruptcy-n1125026?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

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Jesus...

[d_r]

1. Here is the

BSA's restructuring page that outlines their commitment to both assist individuals who were victims of abuse and to continue serving families and youth going forward- the page includes information that might address questions that people have.

https://www.bsarestructuring.org/

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. It's odd that they took pains to purge gay leaders who were never the problem

BSA has brought this on themselves with their religious and political orientation. Rational people began avoiding them years ago, which is a shame because the purposes and activities of the old organization were wonderful for children (boys). The international and other national organizations generally do not have the same right wing focus.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. It is indeed sad that an org. is having to go bankrupt, but they should have policed them-

selves obviously far better than they did. They bought it all on themselves.

A Christian organization too, failing rigorous vetting routines that should be in place when our children's health and safety are at sake. Perhaps the Eagles Scouting units are still operational, and are accepting members too.

[d_r]

5. Remember though

That this is a 110 year old organization that has served many millions. Just one abuse case is too many. These are mostly abuse cases from over 30 years ago that came to light when the statute of limitations was lifted. The BSA had kept a list of banned leaders to try to prevent them from moving from one area to another. However, they did not share that list beyond the organization. Society is at a point now that we recognize this was wrong and let the youth down because those predators could have moved on to other avenues. So the BSA has the responsibility to help in the care and healing of those individuals. Having said thàt, today the bsa has easily arguably the strongest and most stringent youth protection policy of any national youth organization. They really are a model in this area. This restructuring will allow the organization to continue forward while also accepting responsibility for those who have been harmed.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. They say only time will tell, and perhaps that's true here, but declaring bankrupcy is not a good...

sign that even though

"today the bsa has easily arguably the strongest and most stringent youth protection policy of ..., this restructuring will allow the org. to continue forward ..."

I hope you're right...bankruptcy was used by our morally corrupt president to escape a lot of his debt and thus stiff a lot of contractors, workers, etc., and escape their obligations. I hope BSA is not doing the same thing.

Personally, when I was growing up (high school and early college), I was an Eagle Scout leader, and I know the awesome responsibility of guiding and helping so many youngsters (just org. enough games to keep all of them busy was a challenge, all of the time).

I worked closely in hand w/ the church leaders (and thus its leaders) w/ the Eagle troop, and I have to wonder how in the world did BSA let so many predators through its grasp? How in the world could they miss them (the BSA org., the parents, etc.)? I wanted and had the close interactions w/ the church leaders and parents, and they were happy too that someone was willing to take on the eagle troop.

I think that this is going to be something that BSA is going to have to work on for a very long time, to get that reputation back. Personally I don't think they'll ever recover from it. The misdeeds alone are enough in a lot of people's books.

Now of course, the sad thing about this whole mess is that other organizations have had troubles too, with regard to abuse. The Women's gymnastics team, the Jim Jordan Ohio abuse scandal thing, where they keep testifying that Jordan knew of the abuse, and ignored it (or didn't go far enough). There's something about "don't rock the boat, you'll destroy the organization, etc." BS. People need to get over these negative ramifications after all, it is about the kids, and not some fancy smancy national organization and their reputation.