Boy Scouts of America faces 81,500 complaints of sexual abuse

An avalanche of allegations of sexual abuse engulf the Boy Scouts of America, a historic organization that has marked generations of Americans, from John Fitzgerald Kennedy to President-elect Joe Biden, from astronaut Neil Armstrong to rights icon civic Ernest. Green and filmmaker Steven Spielberg

According to the New York Times, there are approximately 81,500 former Boy Scouts who have found the courage to come out on the eve of a deadline set by a Delaware judge in the bankruptcy proceedings requested by the organization, with the aim of to compensate the victims and regroup to survive

A number of cases which lawyers say far surpass those that have come to light in the Catholic Church.

“I knew there were a lot of it, but I never thought it would be a number close to that,” said attorney Paul Mones, saying the prevalence of reported abuse was staggering and could only reflect ‘a fraction of the victims.

The judge set a deadline on Monday for victims to file complaints which will then be carefully examined. Their number continues to grow.

The organization, which has more than a billion in assets, has been “devastated by the number of lives affected by past abuses.”

“The response we have seen from the survivors has been shocking, we are deeply sorry,” he said.

Much of the abuse dates back to the past decades, but some states, such as New York, have passed laws to extend the reporting deadline and give older victims the opportunity to prosecute perpetrators in court.

The history of the Boy Scouts of the United States reveals sex scandals of its early decades: in 1935, the organization reported having documents on hundreds of “degenerates” who had served as leaders in the Boy Scouts.

Founded in 1910, the association developed under a rare parliamentary act of 1916 which defined among the Scout values ​​”patriotism, courage, self-confidence and other similar virtues”, objectives which shaped the ideals civic generations. young Americans.

From an early age, Scouts learn obedience and loyalty by taking an oath to remain “morally correct”. Over its more than 100-year history, the organization has “enlisted” some 130 million Americans. It now has 2.2 million members, a number that is steadily declining from its peak of 5 million in the 1970s.

In 2017, he opened his doors to girls as well, but his lead compromised relations with Girl Scouts in the United States.