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Brothers Who Won Landmark Supreme Court Case Over Secret Pedophile Files Settle Cases with BSA
Supreme Court Opinion in July 2006 Established Abuse Victims’ Rights to Access to BSA internal secret files which document tens of thousands of child molesters in scouting positions. Two brothers raised in Federal Way settled their lawsuits last month against the Boy Scouts of America, Inc.; Chief Sealth Council BSA of Seattle and the former Mount Rainier Council BSA of Tacoma. The cases involved years of sexual abuse by their then Scoutmaster, Bruce Phelps. Phelps was active in the Federal Way and West Seattle communities in scouting from the 1960's until the 1990's. The settlement amounts are to remain confidential at the insistence of the BSA. Another man from Federal Way settled his case against the BSA last fall. A fourth abuse survivor of Phelps has refused to settle his case. Trial is set for October in King County Superior Court in Seattle. The brothers hailed the abuse as “one victory for two people in the long struggle to expose the institutional tolerance for child sexual abuse within the BSA.” Matt and Tom Stewart battled the BSA to the Washington Supreme Court over the right of access to the secret pedophile database the BSA had been keeping secret for nearly 90 years. The BSA had destroyed many of the pedophile files it had been keeping beginning in 1971. Over ten thousand files remained which overwhelmingly demonstrated that the BSA had long been a magnet for child molesters. The lawsuit alleged that the BSA had a duty to disclose the nature and severity of its pedophile problem to parents and scouts and to take measures to identify and remove pedophiles from leadership positions in scouting. Instead, the BSA hid the problem from parents and promoted the organization as a safe place where parents could entrust their children and where they would be taught leadership, civic and outdoor values. The files that survived contained a treasure trove of information about how pedophiles operate, how they infiltrate youth organizations, groom and abuse boys and how they manipulate them through humiliation and shame into not disclosing the abuse. “The legal process was difficult but it was also emotionally cathartic for me. It gave me a chance to expose my abuser, protect kids and get justice. I would encourage other adult survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward, even if you’ve been told before that too much time has passed, that you should have come forward sooner, that the statute of limitations has run – you have a chance now to warn parents, safeguard children and get compensation for yourself and your family,” added Tom Stewart.
Supreme Court Opinion in July 2006 Established Abuse Victims? Rights to Access to BSA internal secret files which document tens of thousands of child molesters in scouting positions. Two brothers raised in Federal Way settled their lawsuits last month against the Boy Scouts of America, Inc.; Chief Sealth Council BSA of Seattle and the former Mount Rainier Council BSA of Tacoma. The cases involved years of sexual abuse by their then Scoutmaster, Bruce Phelps. Phelps was active in the Federal Way and West Seattle communities in scouting from the 1960's until the 1990's. The settlement amounts are to remain confidential at the insistence of the BSA. Another man from Federal Way settled his case against the BSA last fall. A fourth abuse survivor of Phelps has refused to settle his case. Trial is set for October in King County Superior Court in Seattle. The brothers hailed the abuse as ?one victory for two people in the long struggle to expose the institutional tolerance for child sexual abuse within the BSA.? Matt and Tom Stewart battled the BSA to the Washington Supreme Court over the right of access to the secret pedophile database the BSA had been keeping secret for nearly 90 years. The BSA had destroyed many of the pedophile files it had been keeping beginning in 1971. Over ten thousand files remained which overwhelmingly demonstrated that the BSA had long been a magnet for child molesters. The lawsuit alleged that the BSA had a duty to disclose the nature and severity of its pedophile problem to parents and scouts and to take measures to identify and remove pedophiles from leadership positions in scouting. Instead, the BSA hid the problem from parents and promoted the organization as a safe place where parents could entrust their children and where they would be taught leadership, civic and outdoor values. The files that survived contained a treasure trove of information about how pedophiles operate, how they infiltrate youth organizations, groom and abuse boys and how they manipulate them through humiliation and shame into not disclosing the abuse. ?The legal process was difficult but it was also emotionally cathartic for me. It gave me a chance to expose my abuser, protect kids and get justice. I would encourage other adult survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward, even if you?ve been told before that too much time has passed, that you should have come forward sooner, that the statute of limitations has run ? you have a chance now to warn parents, safeguard children and get compensation for yourself and your family,? added Tom Stewart.
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