Overview
Over 92,000 former boy scouts filed claims of sexual abuse against The Boy Scouts of America. The number of cases exceeds the initial estimate as the deadline for submissions, November 16th, gave the opportunity for many victims to come forward for their shot at justice. The organization was deemed a proper influence for young boys, teaching ideas of patriotism, courage, loyalty, and other virtues. Over 100 million American boys were scouts over the years including famous role models like John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong, and Steven Spielberg. But, the massive number of cases prompted the organization to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a clause allowing the Boy Scouts to reorganize and set up compensation funds for victims. Cases over the years exposed the deep corruption within The Boy Scouts of America, contradicting the values they teach young boys around the country.
Their stories
The age of the victims filing claims in the bankruptcy case ranges from 8-93 years old; however, most of the accusers are middle-aged men. Why are they finally speaking out? It’s mostly attributed to the unfair stigma of men coming forward as victims of sexual abuse, they are more likely to disclose experiences of abuse much later than women. Eli Newberger, a pediatrician studying child abuse, expresses the harder process for men suffering from sexual exploitation, “there is this extra shame that you were not able to protect yourself, that you were found to be powerless.” In addition, parts of the country make it harder for boys to communicate their experiences in fear of facing homophobia, especially if they do not identify as queer. But, these past few years, we have seen more victims voice their experiences in hopes to inspire boys around the country to do the same and seek the justice they deserve.
Frank Spinelli, eleven at the time during the Summer of 1977, joined a Boy Scout troop with support from his parents in hopes to receive positive male influence. Bill Fox, a former NYPD officer and scoutmaster of Troop 85, ran errands with Frank, and eventually had “sleepovers.” Spinelli says he was abused over a hundred times over three years. More than 30 years later, in 2011, Fox was arrested and died in the first year of his 25-year sentence.
Kendall Kimber, now 65 years old, was an elite boy scout in northern California. His scoutmaster invited him to his house and was molested, he quit right after: “I felt cheated because the only thing I was good at was being a Scout. But after that happened, I just walked away [from Scouting]. I was done.” Kimber kept his trauma to himself and did not speak about it to any of his relatives. But recently, after lawyers urged victims to come forward, Kimber and two of his relatives revealed their experiences of abuse to one another. Kimber believes his scoutmaster also abused his younger brother, who died from drug abuse complications. Drugs and drinking were apparent within most of the victims. It ruined their lives.
The Perversion Files
The Boy Scouts of America has been a hub for pedophilia since the beginning. In 1920, the Boy Scouts starting creating files on the pedophiles in their organization which is now known as the perversion files. Members would keep track of “red flags” of sexual abusers, up to 12,000 scout leaders were on it. Policies prevented people from reporting predators to law enforcement and even let these same men quietly escape from any charges. They called this an attempt to keep pedophilia out of the organization, but many of the men traveled to a different state and repeated the same sexual abuse.
Sadly, the Boy Scouts of America is not the only organization where pedophilia exists, many children who are part of youth organizations in the United States also suffer from sexual abuse. How can we change this? Bringing awareness to the sexual exploitation prevalent in youth organizations is a crucial step but, even more, is establishing a safer platform for victims to come forward about their experiences. For more information on this growing issue click here.
*It is still important to note that the Boy Scouts of America did have many positive, long lasting effects on young scouts. This group was created for quality reasons but was unfortunately smeared by this intolerable behavior.
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