Dealing with "Old" Abuse Issues

[perdidochas]

WAKWIB,

 

About once a year, our troop gets an outside trainer (the council "expert" on this subject) to teach our scouts youth protection. I think it's a good idea, and hope we continue with it.

[Eamonn]

While there are lawyers who are trying to make as much money as they possibly can, doing whatever it is they can to further that goal and doing so without any scruples.

Still, to date I have yet to meet one.

It's a little too easy to use lawyers as the fall guys, placing the blame for what ever happened on them and greedy victims.

While I don't know any of the victims. I'm almost sure that in some cases the smell of a dollar has brought some out of the woodwork.

However, from what I've read there seems to be no dispute that the BSA was aware and did know of cases where abuse was happening and knew who was doing the abuse.

 

 

While Training's like YPT have helped cut down on the number of reported cases of abuse and are in my view a good idea.

I do sometimes question who the training's are really protecting?

In the "Real World" I'm one of the Staff Trainers in the facility where I work.

I cover a wide range of subjects from preventing suicide to First Aid and preventing rape in jail.

I have to sign off that everyone who has attended the trainings has indeed attended and that I have followed the Training Guides.

In the event that something goes wrong. It's almost a given that two things will happen.

One, there will be an internal investigation.

Two the victim or his family will sue the Department.

While so far it hasn't happened to me. I have heard of cases where for example an inmate has successfully managed to harm or kill himself, the family has sued.

The Departments defense is that the staff are trained, the staff trainers are also fully trained and the department will provide a copy of th training syllabus.

Records of the dates, times, location of the training's are made available.

Staff Trainers will say that they presented the Departments training's as they are in the syllabus.

So who does that leave to take the blame?

Not the department!

They will claim that they did everything possible and took every precaution to prevent anything from happening.

Of course it can also be said that if everyone followed, all the policies and adhered too all the rules, all the time. Nothing would have happened or that there's a good chance it could have been prevented.

My point is that a lot of the time training is as much about coving the tail of the organization as it is about protecting the individual.

 

A few years back I posted about a 17 year old male Sea Scout who was caught trying to perform oral sex on another 17 year old male Sea Scout.

The Ship's Committee wasted no time in removing this Sea Scout.

I reported what had happened to the SE.

The SE was happy to pass the buck and let the DE deal with it.

The DE a rookie came back to me saying that because of my past having served in a few high profile positions that he thought I should deal with it!

The Sea Scout was also a Boy Scout in a local Troop.

The DE wasn't sure if I was allowed to talk to the CO of the Troop.

I decided for myself that I would meet with the CO, the COR and the CC of the Troop, they decided to invite the SM.

At the meeting it came to light that this Scout had made sexual advances to the son of the CC. A lad four or five years younger than him.

They removed the Scout from the Troop.

I requested that the SE revoke his membership.

He didn't. Saying that as he was 17 He'd be gone soon!

I documented everything sending copies to just about anyone and everyone I could think of, including my own attorney.

I know and am very aware that at 17 this Lad was a youth member.

The mother of the Sea Scout who was abused didn't want to involve, the police. She talked with the father of the lad and he promised to get the lad some help.

I wasn't at all happy with the outcome of it all.

Without revoking his membership the Lad could have joined another unit and who knows what might have happened.

Thankfully so far he hasn't.

In a lot of cases the BSA at the local level seems happy to pass the buck and try and hide behind the CO.

In these "Old" Abuse cases this doesn't seem to have happened.

The BSA knew what was or what had happened, they kept files on the people who were doing this type of thing, but yet seemed to be willing to do nothing.

If it can be proved that by knowing and doing nothing the BSA helped these perverts abuse and harm others? Then the BSA needs to be held accountable.

While as a parent I was willing to use my own judgment when it came to the people I trusted my kid with, I do think if others knew that my kid was being placed with someone who had a history of abuse and harming children and didn't tell me?

I'd have every right to be very upset.

I don't know why the BSA ever wanted to try and cover this sort of thing up?

I do feel that the BSA has let us as volunteers down and made it a lot harder for us to trust them and parents to trust us volunteers.

All of which is a shame.

Shame on them for all of this.

Eamonn.

[Engineer61]

Eamonn wrote:

 

"At the meeting it came to light that this Scout had made sexual advances to the son of the CC. A lad four or five years younger than him."

 

17 - (4 or 5) = 12 or 13 = sexual abuse (even if only advances)

 

Why wasn't the Police contacted at this point?

 

Herein lies the problem...the unwillingness to make the tough call to the legal authorities to let THEM sort out the problem.

 

As long as this is the case (with BSA or any other large youth organization) then this problem will continue.

[Eamonn]

Engineer61

I can't answer your question other than to say that I don't know.

My guess is that what happened didn't come to light at the time it happened.

The Lad's father was an ASM in the Troop and maybe the family just didn't want to make a fuss.

I'm trying to think what I might do (have done.) Had it been my kid and I was faced with the problem.

Have to admit that I'm not a great lover of having kids get a criminal record that is going to haunt and follow them for the rest of their days.

I don't have a lot of faith in the juvenile court system.

As a parent I might not want my son to have to face testifying time and time again, re-living what might have been an uncomfortable situation or might have been traumatic?

Think it's way too easy for us guys sitting at our key-boards too Monday morning quarterback saying what ought and what should have been done.

I do however believe that once the Council became aware of what was happening it (They?) Should have revoked the Lads membership thus ensuring that he couldn't join another unit.

 

I really have no idea what training SE's have in dealing with situations like this or in fact with any real case of child abuse.

The last few SE's we've had never struck me as being that bright!

The guy we at when this happened (Now gone.) Just didn't want to be involved.

The DE had less than six months on the job.

We can but hope that the Lad who was out of line finds some way of dealing with his behavior, be it from some kind of professional help or just finds someone or some group where that sort of thing is accepted or maybe he is just so immature that in time he could/might grow out of it -Truth is that I don't have the qualifications to say what help he might need.

We can also hope that he never wants to get involved with Scouting again.

Other than a few letters that I wrote there is nothing to prevent him from doing so.

Ea.