The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) declared bankruptcy Tuesday after thousands of former scouts pursued lawsuits against the nonprofit organization following several states extending their statute-of-limitations rules. Thousands of former scouts across the nation have come forward with allegations of sexual assault or abuse by scoutmasters or other BSA leaders. By declaring bankruptcy the organization can put a hold on the lawsuits until it takes action to raise money to compensate the victims.
“The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting. We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to harm innocent children,” Roger Mosby, president and chief executive officer of BSA, said in a statement Tuesday. “While we know nothing can undo the tragic abuse that victims suffered, we believe the Chapter 11 process—with the proposed Trust structure—will provide equitable compensation to all victims while maintaining the BSA’s important mission.”
The BSA noted that it will continue to maintain its commitment to members and scouting programs including meetings, events, and service projects will continue throughout the process “to the fullest extent permitted by bankruptcy laws.” Local councils, “which provide programming, financial, facility and administrative support to scouting units in their communities,” are separate from the national organization and those have not filed for bankruptcy, the statement read.
The 110-year-old organization remains one of the largest youth groups in the U.S. despite seeing a decline in participation over the years. In the 1970s, BSA had more than 4 million participants, while the number of participants now is below 2 million, the Associated Press reported. Last year, in efforts to counter the decline, the organization announced that it would accept girls. The move received backlash from one of BSA’s major partners, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which cut ties and withdrew thousands of scouts. Most recently as several states including New York, Arizona, New Jersey, and California extended their statute-of-limitations rules, victims who faced abuse at the hands of BSA years ago have filed claims, further impacting the organization. The move to extend laws concerning child sexual abuse arose from the #MeToo movement, according to The Washington Post.
Investigations into internal BSA documentation found generations of abuse allegations. More than 14,000 pages of documents were released as part of a lawsuit filed in Oregon against BSA in 2012. Last year, an attorney representing victims released court documents including testimony from a doctor who was hired by BSA to evaluate sex abuse cases. The doctor, Janet Warren, “testified that she worked with the scout’s ineligible volunteer files and determined there were ‘7,819 perpetrators’ and identified ‘12,254 victims’ over the decades,” ABC News reported.
Many survivors of the abuse have expressed relief their cases are being heard, Kenneth M. Rothweiler, an attorney part of a group called Abused in Scouting told ABC News. The group represents over 1,800 victims with some allegations dating back to the 1940s. Rothweiler also said his clients are glad the organization’s financial assets will be public. The petition filed by BSA lists its assets at “between $1 billion and $10 billion, and its liabilities at $500 million to $1 billion,” according to the AP. Rothweiler said he is not the only attorney pushing for more details on their finances and the organization will likely “downplay its assets,” ABC News reported.
While the allegations of abuse will finally be heard, BSA filing for bankruptcy limits the time victims have to “have their story heard in court and their claim ultimately decided by a jury of their peers,” Michael Pfau, another lawyer representing survivors, said. Although the trial will be shorter with the filing in place, victims will lose opportunities for a jury trial in state court, Pfau told NBC News. According to Pfau, one of the most powerful weapons a victim has is a jury trial, which he believes is the reason BSA filed for bankruptcy protection. "Juries don't like fact patterns where children are abused by trusted leaders," Pfau said. "An entity like the Boy Scouts has to consider their exposure."
Victims can still have a collective voice and negotiate with BSA despite not having a jury trial, Pamela Foohey, an associate law professor at Indiana University told The Washington Post. Foohey specializes in bankruptcy issues and noted that the victims can work together to calculate what assets BSA has and how much compensation they are entitled to. But again because BSA filed for bankruptcy the deadlines for claims are closer, meaning victims may have to come forward before they are ready. “If you’re not ready to come forward by then … then you do lose your claim, and you lose your voice,” Foohey said. “That’s part of why bankruptcy is useful for the Boy Scouts. It cuts off the claims."
Despite the myriad claims of abuse, the organization said it is safer than ever, with "approximately 90% of pending and asserted abuse claims against the BSA relate to abuse that occurred more than 30 years ago, “ NBC News reported. Whether or not the abuse occurred in the past or present is not relevant to the issues the allegations raised. Any abuse is too much abuse.