San Antonio Scout leader wrongfully accused of sexual abuse gets his day in court, reinstated in BSA

[RememberSchiff]

McCalister, 79, had been a scoutmaster for about 45 years. More than 240 scouts with Troop 285 in North-Central San Antonio achieved the rank of Eagle Scout during his tenure. He spearheaded fundraising for a scout lodge that now bears his name on the campus of Coker United Methodist Church on the North Side.

He fought the allegation made by an anonymous accuser, who said the abuse occurred in the early 1990s. One day shy of the year anniversary of receiving the letter, McCalister sued the Boy Scouts of America, Alamo Area Council Inc. and his accuser — only known as John Doe — for defamation. 

On Jan. 12, McCalister's nearly two-year legal battle ended when state District Judge Marisa Flores granted his request for partial summary judgment, declaring in a written order that he is "hereby completely and fully exonerated of any allegations of abuse by John Doe." She was told the accuser had recanted.

That same day, McCalister received another letter — this one welcoming him back to the Scouts. Boy Scouts of America CEO and President Roger Krone, who leads the National Council based in Irving, told McCalister that he had been in reinstated as a volunteer leader.

"The BSA regrets the anguish you endured from this process and these procedures, which are designed to make the safety of children in our Scouting programs the BSA's top priority," BSA President and CEO Roger Krone said in his letter.

 

More details at source:

https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/scout-leader-exonerated-18615122.php

Edited January 24 by RememberSchiff

[skeptic]

Interesting that the news article noted the likelihood of a large percentage of false claims having been generated in this mess.  It is sad that this Scouter that mentored so many over such a period was put through this.  I would like to perhaps hear how the false accusation came about, since the Joh Doe recanted under oath.  Why did he do it?  I suspect it has some connection to less than honest legal birds I so distain.  

So, we have a man falsely accused who is now in his own way a "survivor"?  How many more may appear?  The pendulum may swing some more. 

While the Survivors that are real need to be acknowledged, so too should those accused wrongly recognized and publicly exonerated.  

[Prime00]

I strongly suspect there are many others that are innocent. The unfortunate thing is that it costs a tremendous amount of money to pursue any kind of lawsuit against anyone. Most people simply do not have the money. The scout program is completely uninterested in serving justice. They figure it is quicker to just throw out everyone and walk away. 

I know of another situation where the scout executive revoked membership of a person after a shoddy investigation. The same executive has said to multiple people that he has no evidence to support various claims but still revoked the membership of the person. Same executive committed some criminal activity to get the person out but continues to serve. Bad deal all around.