Youth Protection

[gigibw]

I have a situation. An incident happened involving a Cub Scout registered leader and a Boy Scout. This was not in a BSA function but in a social / family & friends outing. Let me tell the story. A boy who is a 2nd yr Webelo and a Boy Scout (age 12) were having a disagreement. The father (and registered leader) of the Cub Scout got involved and was encouraging these boys to fight. The mother of the Boy Scout (also a registered leader) tried t intervene and was pushed by the father of the Cub Scout, knocking her to the ground. The Boy Scout, in his defense of his mother called the father a name and the father of the Cub Scout proceeded to grab the Boy Scout by the neck and and throttle him, possibly even trying to shove the Boy down the stairs. Luckily another male adult intervened and the Boy was not hurt further.

 

My question / dilemma is....even though this was a social function and not a BSA event. Does this qualify as an abusive incident that goes against YPT. And therefore should the father of the Cub Scout be reported to the BSA??? There is also another incident with a different Webelo and this father, again not in a BSA, but social function where this father forced the Webelo against a tree after the Webelo called him a name the father didn't like.

 

I feel like if this father (and registered leader) would do this harm to these two boys, he might do it to others, even at BSA functions if angered enough. Should he be reported???

[Eamonn]

Hi Welcome to the forums.

Sounds like a real mess!!

Are the two boys brothers?

Is the leader their Father?

Were you an eye witness?

 

 

I think my first port of call would be to the Pack Committee Chair or the COR.

 

If you suspect that the father is putting his kids at risk you need to look in the phone book and call who ever handles child abuse in your area/state.

While maybe? A SE might remove him from the BSA, chances are that he will not want to get involved in what he might see as a family matter.

If child welfare or who ever it is in your area deems that action is needed, then the SE will need to take some sort of action.

Eamonn.

[gigibw]

Thanks for the reply. The Cub that was in the disagreement is the son of the male adult who pushed the female adult and then laid hands on her child, the Boy Scout. I was more than an eye witness, I am the one that was shoved. And it was my child, the Boy Scout, that was man handled. The Cub and his father are in the Pack. And myself and my son are in a Troop. This isn't a family situation. I really just want to know if it is acceptable to go to my SE, or the packs SE and report this, even though it was not a Scouting function. I just feel that this male adult would be a detrement to the leadership, and might possibly do this to another child in his boy's den, and soon to be Troop as they are about to crossover.

[ajmako]

gigibw,

Did you report the incident to the police?

 

The reason I ask is you can certainly report the incident to the SE, but there isn't anything the SE can do. Since it happened at a non-Scouting event there's nothing for the SE to report to the authorities. If you reported the incident to the police and you mentioned the Scouting connection, then you should at least notify the SE that the police might contact him during the course of their investigation. Otherwise it's just an incident between two parents and thier children.

 

As a COR I would certainly be concerned about this, but again, there isn't much I can do if you haven't reported it to the appropriate authorities. If I was COR for the pack I'd talk to the CC about whether or not there was a problem with this Scouter or if there had been any complaints from Scouts or their parents about his behavior. That's about as far as it will go. If there have been complaints or he has been a problem we'll deal with him. If I was the COR for the troop there would be even less that I could do.

 

It's important to understand that the SE doesn't investigate reports of abuse. He or she simply reports them to the appropriate authorities and cooperates with the investigation.

 

[DanKroh]

Gigibw,

 

In the situation you have described, the man in question has committed battery on two people. This incident should be reported to the police.

[evmori]

Dan is right on the money! You were assaulted and so was your son. Call the cops!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[ScoutNut]

This is not an incidence of child abuse, you and your son were assualted, and you should have called the police ASAP.

 

It is not to late. Filing charges against this man is the first step to keeping him from hurting others.

[Beavah]

Hiya gigibw,

 

It's very difficult to respond sometimes when I read a post from one side of a dispute. As presented, this incident is awful, and yet I can imagine the same underlying facts being viewed differently by other parties present. Since there seems to have been other people at each of these incidents, it might be worth considering their view of what happened.

 

Anyway, the first incident is not a case of child abuse or of BSA YP. As presented, it's a crime of battery. If it went down as ugly as presented, you call law enforcement, report the facts honestly, and name the witnesses. You really don't want to be making accusations to other people in the community like the SE, because that might be defamation on your part if you aren't careful.

 

And then needless to say, you avoid social engagements with this man in the future, "family & friends" or not.

 

Beavah

[kenk]

The advice given here is excellent.

 

I'm curious what exactly you mean when you said "throttle him".

 

Ken

[Eamonn]

I really think you need to seek the advise of a lawyer.

Eamonn.

[gigibw]

I would like to thank everyone for their responses. I will take everything said into consideration.

 

YIS,

 

GiGiBW