CharityAK Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 The scout who recruited my older son to our troop lived in our neighborhood, was a close friend of our family (we had no idea of his predilections and made the erroneous assumption that he was a great kid - after all he was a high-ranking scout!) but was convicted and sentenced to two years for sexual assault of four children in our neighborhood. There were other victims starting back when he was as young as 11. Our family had to be witnesses in the trial and were the only ones in the troop who knew of the conviction. The mom spun a web of lies as to her son's absence and continues to lie about his whereabouts. We did not "out" him to the troop as we were protecting a victim who wanted his identity protected. I did, however, report him to the district council. I am concerned, however, that because he is a minor, no criminal record of this will follow him into adulthood. He could register as a scout leader when he becomes an adult and his background check would be clean. The child advocates we worked with said he was one of the worst offenders they had ever seen. They said his methods of seduction were as advanced and sophisticated as a lifetime offender and that he would be an extreme threat to the community upon his release. Even more so because his juvenile record will not be available to the public. Have we done everything we can to protect scouts from this boy? Should we send out a letter to all the troops in our area? To national headquarters? Charity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eisely Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 Unless you are interested in incurring personal liabilities for defamation, I would do nothing without consulting an attorney. Do you have a "Megan's Law" in your state? This is a law that requires the dissemination of information regarding convicted sex offenders of all kinds. Perhaps this would apply to your situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kthoman Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 According to Youth Protection Traing, you are supposed to report any abuse that happens in scouting to the District Executive, and the police. It would be interesting to know what steps the Discrict Exec. has to take in order to protect BSA (and essencialy the youth). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharityAK Posted October 10, 2003 Author Share Posted October 10, 2003 This abuse happened BY a scout, but not TO a scout. The abuse occurred in the context of private homes with the scout acting as a friend or babysitter. Since he is a juvenile, many of the child protection laws do not apply to him. It was very unusual for him to have served anytime at all. Usually a juvenile offender just gets "counseling". The sentencing only happened through the very hard work of one set of parents. The other parents didn't want to get involved. As far as defamation...I thought that could only be charged if the statements made are untrue. I am in possession of all of the police records and the court transcripts so I'm not sure how we could be accused of making false statements as long as we stick to the facts?? I wouldn't act publicly unless I felt it was necessary to protect children and we would consult a lawyer first. My biggest concern is that he will appear "clean" if he ever tries to become a SM or ASM once he becomes an adult. He is 17 now and getting out of detention this month - which is why it's on my mind now after 2 years. I'm concerned that he will apply for a scouting position or in a day care or something and his juvenile record won't follow him. Charity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acco40 Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 "According to Youth Protection Traing, you are supposed to report any abuse that happens in scouting to the District Executive..." No, accordingto YPT, we are supposed to report any SUSPECTED abuse. We should not concern ourselves with tryingto find out if th abuse really occurred or not. That is the job of others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eisely Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 I am not an attorney, but I have always understood that the truth is a defense against a defamation claim. Even though you may possess and speak or write the truth, it does not mean that the other party won't come after you. I repeat my advice - don't do anything proactive to inform others of this situation without getting some guidance from an attorney first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted October 12, 2003 Share Posted October 12, 2003 " I am in possession of all of the police records and the court transcripts so I'm not sure how we could be accused of making false statements as long as we stick to the facts??" How do you have those? It's been my understanding that records like those are not available to the public. If you are hit with a defamation suit, those records might not be admissible. I'd like to know what the nature of the crimes were. Today, kissing a girl can be considered a sex crime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharityAK Posted October 12, 2003 Author Share Posted October 12, 2003 I don't want to get into all the details on a public forum. Let me just say that our family has complete legal right to those records. They were given to me by legal counsel. As far as the nature of the assault, again, a sensitive issue. I don't want to describe the nasty details. But the young man was guilty of first degree sexual assault against preschool children. This was way beyond kissing. He is a serious threat to the community despite his young age. Charity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWScouter Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 I believe here in washington state sex offenders of all ages are placed on a public list. The are given a level depending on the probility to reoffend. I would believe that they would show up on any background check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 Well, the most civilized thing to do would be to wait until he's out of prison, grab him, take him out into the wilderness, castrate him with a dull knife and let him crawl home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsteele Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 Charity: I'll try to post to this thread again. I thought I had posted on Saturday, but must have done something wrong and it didn't go thorugh. My advice is for you to get the evidence in hand to the Scout Executive ASAp -- he can at least make sure the young man can not register in the BSA anywhere ever again. The criminal stuff is up to the state courts. The BSA stuff is up to the Scout Executive. Either way, confidentiality agreements prohibit filling you in further. It stinks, but that's the way it goes. DS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Old Guy Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 Man O'Steele, let me get this straight. I go to the SE and tell him that John Binkledorfer (a ficticuous character created for this scenario) has a conviction for fondling small boys. The SE says, "Thank you" and that's all I hear about it? I don't hear back that the SE looked into it and found out that it was a different John Smith? The SE doesn't let me know that Smith has been banned from Scouting so when I hear of a John Binkledorfer who is an SM in the next county, I can't say to my friends there, "Hey look into this, we had a John Binkledorfer who was banned for life."? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharityAK Posted October 13, 2003 Author Share Posted October 13, 2003 DSteele - Forgive my ignorance...only been in scouting for about 2 years. By "Scout Executive" you mean the guy at the very top? Are you advising that I send a copy of this young man's conviction to national headquarters? I have already given a copy to our district executive. Charity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hops_scout Posted October 13, 2003 Share Posted October 13, 2003 By Scout Executive, he means the head of a council. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsteele Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Fat Old Guy -- you are correct. There are obligations of confidentiality on the part of the Scout Executive. Charity -- Hops is correct. The Scout Executive is also referred to as the council executive -- I'm referring to the top executive of the local council. The call does not go to National unless it is by the Scout Executive. The District Executive is obligated to report to his/her Scout Executive, so by giving the info to the district executive, your duty is done. Hops -- good call. DS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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