By Mike Baker. The Boy Scouts of America, an iconic presence in the nation’s experience for more than a century, filed for bankruptcy protection early Tuesday, succumbing to financial pressures that included a surge in legal costs over its handling of sexual abuse allegations.

Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts have long maintained internal files at their headquarters in Texas detailing decades of allegations involving nearly 8,000 “perpetrators,” according to an expert hired by the organization. Lawyers have said in recent months that former scouts have come forward to identify hundreds of other abusers not included in those files.

The bankruptcy filing, in Delaware, is expected to disrupt continuing litigation and establish a deadline for when former scouts can pursue claims. (Read more from Boy Scouts Files For Bankruptcy HERE)
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BSA Faces “THOUSANDS” of Boy Scout Claimants

By Corky Siemaszko. Facing mounting legal costs from defending itself against lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of boys, the venerable nonprofit sought Chapter 11 protection in a court filing early Tuesday. . .

Michael Pfau, whose Seattle-based law firm, Pfau, Cochran, Veretis and Amala, represents close to 300 people who say they were abused as Scouts in 30-plus states, called the filing historic.

“It will be far larger in terms of the numbers of victims and far more complicated than any of the bankruptcies we’ve seen so far involving the Catholic Church,” Pfau said. . .

“You’re looking at thousands of abuse survivors making claims,” he said. “This is much bigger than the bankruptcy filings involving the Catholic Church.” (Read more from Boy Scouts Files For Bankruptcy HERE)
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Boy Scouts Admitted Youth Practicing Homosexuality, Transgenders, and Gay Leaders Creating Massive Membership Issues

By Warren Smith. [T]he Scouts can’t blame James Dale, atheist groups, or the ACLU for its most recent, self-inflicted wounds. A 2013 decision to allow homosexual boys to participate in the program accelerated the membership drop. In 2015, others left or considered leaving after BSA’s leadership took the next step and began allowing gay adult leaders. The BSA began accepting transgender youth in 2017.

This drop in membership contributed to a flood of red ink in the organization’s finances, leading to consideration of bankruptcy . . .

In August, a group called Abused in Scouting filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia on behalf of a former Scout who claims he was abused by a Scout leader. The BSA has long kept a list of “ineligible volunteer files” that could include as many as 7,800 names. Victims’ advocates in lawsuits have pressured the Scouts to release the list, but the BSA has resisted, saying that to release a list of suspected abusers would violate their civil liberties and their rights to due process.

The Philadelphia lawsuit says, “It is apparent that the Boy Scouts defendants continue to hide the true nature of their cover-up and the extent of the pedophilia epidemic within their organization.” (Read more from Boy Scouts Files For Bankruptcy HERE)