Boy Scouts: One Million Dollars Paid For Decades Of Sexual Abuse | US organization accepts $ 850 million in compensation for victims

The Boy Scouts of the United States (BSA), rocked by a massive decades-long child and adolescent sexual abuse scandal, have announced that they have managed to move towards a 850 million dollars for the tens of thousands of victims. The settlement has yet to be confirmed and validated by a judge, but the sum would make it one of the largest sexual assault settlements in US history.

The BSA said the settlement with the Abused Scouts for Justice Coalition was negotiated as part of the youth organization’s bankruptcy filing. The BSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2020 following the 2012 disclosures of decades of child sexual abuse in Boy Scout circles in the United States.

“This agreement ensures that we have overwhelming support from the survivors for the reorganization plan proposed by the BSA, which is a key step on the road to BSA bankruptcy“The BSA said. The group described the move as the “biggest step to date towards BSA’s dual imperative: equitably compensating survivors of abuse and safeguarding the mission of Scouting. “

The agreement provides for the national organization BSA to contribute assets with a value of up to $ 250 million to a trust that will compensate victims.

Local Scout affiliates would contribute $ 500 million in cash and property to the trust and an additional $ 100 million to a separate trust, funded with money intended for pension plans.

The agreement remains needs the approval of a bankruptcy judge and has not been signed by all victims of abuse, although the BSA said the Scouts Abused for Justice Coalition represents “a large majority of the plaintiffs”. The deal also faces opposition from insurance companies. “Our intention is to seek confirmation of the plan this summer and to come out of bankruptcy at the end of this year”, specifies the BSA.

Almost 100,000 complaints of sexual abuse They were brought against the Boy Scouts, victims’ attorney Paul Moses said in November. This figure is in addition to some 11,000 complaints that have been filed in recent years against the Catholic Church.

The Boy Scouts of America, founded in 1910 and based in Irving, Texas, has 2.2 million members aged five to 21.