Boy Scout Sexual Abuse Lawyer
Kelly’s work against the Boy Scouts goes back to the mid-1990′s when he took the first of the current wave of cases against the Scouts (see discussion of Fearing and Lourim cases above). Since the successful resolution of the Lourim case after the Supreme Court win, Kelly has handled or is handling nearly a dozen other cases against Scouting organizations.
In 2003 and 2004, Kelly, working with co-counsel, won a settlement from the Scouts in the context of an Explorer Scout who had been abused by a police officer in the City of The Dalles, Oregon. The case against the Boy Scouts was settled some months before trial, and OC &C associate Jonathan Clark won a strong verdict at trial against the City of The Dalles. That judgment is now on appeal before the Oregon Supreme Court, where significant issues of the statute of limitations in child abuse cases will be decided.
Currently (2007) Kelly is fighting on behalf of another ten clients in several different cases who were abused by Scout leaders– often in affiliation with various entities of the LDS (Mormon) Church. Watch these pages for developments.
Kelly’s Thoughts:
“He’s such a Boy Scout!” If you are of a certain age, you’ve heard that phrase describing a clean-cut, good, moral person. That’s the reputation The Boy Scouts of America have enjoyed during much of their 100 year existence.
Yet, recently, another sinister reputation has come to be synonymous with Boy Scouts. Unfortunately, that’s child sex abuse. In their 100 years of existence, the Boy Scouts of America have publicly stood for everything that is wholesome and good in American male youth. But that public reputation has been tarnished by thousands of cases of sexual abuse. After decades of ignoring the problem, more recently BSA has adopted some more effective policies governing the proper relationship and behavior between scoutmasters and the scouts themselves. However, these good policies haven’t always been enforced, even in recent decades. This laxity has allowed for a certain criminal to prey upon minor boys who aspire to be nothing but good and honorable Boy Scouts.
But the more sobering fact—and the one little understood until our trial in Portland in 2010—is that for decades, the BSA knew about and actively concealed the institutional problem of the sexual abuse of minors by their scoutmasters. The organization maintained its so-called “perversion files,” starting as early as the 1920’s– files replete with the sordid accounts of scoutmasters taking advantage and sexually abusing their own troop members. These “perversion files” were an integral part of the Portland Boy Scout abuse trial. I was the lead counsel in the trial and we were successful in convincing the judge in the case to allow the “perversion files” to be admitted as evidence in the case. Just as in the Catholic Church priest abuse scandal, the Boy Scout “perversion files” and other organizational documents provided the jury and the public with a glimpse into an organization that allowed and cover-up the sexual abuse of minors. The jury responded with a verdict of nearly $20 million, including $18.5 million in punitive damages, based on a finding that the BSA “knowingly allowed” child sexual abuse to continue unabated in its organization.
By the evidence of the Perversion Files, we now know that tens of thousands— and, perhaps, literally, hundreds of thousands—of boys were sexually abused in Scouting during the decades between 1950 and 1990. It is a staggering fact, but one that can no longer be denied or ignored.
As a trial lawyer, it has been my distinct honor to represent dozens of young men—and a few women as well—who were abused in Scouting. Their idealism and commitment to the best Boy Scout principles remains unwavering. They have come forward to seek justice and protect other young men from the cruel fate they suffered as Scouts.
