Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy amid multiple sexual abuse lawsuits
Future uncertain for BSA and alleged victims; Chris Veilleux, who was allegedly abused by his troop leader, is joined by his lawyer Tim Kosnoff and speaks out.
EXCLUSIVE - The move by the Boy Scouts of America to file for bankruptcy Tuesday comes after scores of victims have accused scoutmasters, troop leaders, and other scouts of sexual abuse in a predatory culture that allegedly spanned decades.
Victims are coming forward after silence fueled by years of shame and embarrassment for what they were forced to endure. At least one 94-year-old victim alleged he was attacked more than 80 years ago.
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY AMID SEX ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS
“I was held hostage in my mind - in that as a kid I was hunted like an animal,” Matt Stewart, 55, of Coachella Valley, Calif., said to Fox News. “I constantly had to turn my back and constantly had to be looking over my shoulder because of this pedophile.”
Stewart was 13 when he says he was first abused by his troop master in Federal Way, Wash.
“He would come by around while my mother was making dinner ... under the guise of working on scouting, merit badges, skill awards, things of that nature,” Stewart recalls. “We would go into the basement of my parents’ house with my parents upstairs.
“And then, what he would do is, he would put me on the sofa in the basement and he would start unbuckling my pants. And so, and I would say, ‘no, no, this isn't right. You know, my parents aren't going to approve. You know, this isn't right.’ But he was very forceful with me.”
BOY SCOUTS COULD BE HIT WITH MORE SEX ABUSE CLAIMS
Stewart adds that the scoutmaster abused his brother as well, but told Stewart the brother thought his advances were OK -- a ploy to pressure him.
“[He said] since my brother thought it was OK, well then, it was OK for him to, you know, start coming on to me in the basement of my parents’ house,” Stewart said.
Stewart added that the abuse continued over a decade until he graduated high school and left home for college.
“It continued for 13 years. And it just progressed from that point forward to more and more incidents, incidences in my parents' home," he said.
"I was held hostage in my mind. In that as a kid I was hunted like an animal.”
The long-rumored bankruptcy filing by the BSA was spurred by a litany of abuse violations like Stewart's. The victims are coming forward due to the efforts of Abused in Scouting, an organization spearheaded by a group of attorneys nationwide that aids nearly 2,000 scouting abuse survivors.
“There are windows that have opened up, revival windows, in many states, which gives survivors the opportunity to bring lawsuits,” Tim Kosnoff, an attorney associated with Abused in Scouting, said to Fox News. “I mean, that's the whole reason the Boy Scouts are now going into bankruptcy is what they're facing now. We have probably four or five hundred of our cases just out of New York state alone, which opened up a window effective last August.”
Stewart is just one of thousands now coming forward with abuse claims. On tonight’s "The Story with Martha MacCallum" at 7 pm, another victim will share his story for the first time.
TUNE IN TO 'THE STORY WITH MARTHA MACCALLUM' TONIGHT AT 7 ET
Just last month, Kosnoff and his colleagues filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal court in which they seek to establish the Capitol as the location where accusers across the country can file suit against the Boy Scouts of America.
They contend that federal court in Washington, D.C. is the best venue for such a lawsuit because the Boy Scouts were incorporated there in 1910 and obtained a congressional charter in 1916. Along with several states -- including New York, New Jersey, and California -- the District of Columbia eased its statute of limitations in 2019.
FILE: The Rockwell exhibition at the Mormon Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Even though somebody may have been victimized in Arkansas or Idaho or someplace, they can bring a suit in Washington, D.C.,” Kosnoff said. “And we've done that on behalf of eight men, as a sort of representative group to demonstrate that we think this: that basically everybody has a viable path to justice, whether it's in the individual states or whether it's in federal court.”
The eight plaintiffs in the lawsuit, identified as John Does 1 through 8, live in states where the statute of limitation laws would prevent them from suing the BSA based on claims of sex abuse that occurred decades ago.
The lawsuit contends that the BSA has known since its early years that it attracted pedophiles to be adult leaders, yet avoided public acknowledgment of the dangers for decades even as it kept secret files of those suspected of committing sexual abuse.
Officials with the Boy Scouts of America declined to discuss its bankruptcy filing as well as any specific abuse claims but said they are exploring various options including the creation of a victim’s compensation fund.
“The Boy Scouts of America is working with experts and exploring all options available so we can live up to our social and moral responsibility to equitably compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in Scouting, while also ensuring that we carry out our mission to serve youth, families and local communities through our programs," reads a statement provided to Fox News. "No decisions have been made and we continue to fully meet our financial obligations to our vendors, creditors, and other stakeholders."
George, 65, of Connecticut, who declined to provide his full name, said in the late 60s, he and his fellow scouts were abused repeatedly by a counselor at their scouting camp.
“Well, the kids would come to talk about things kind of quietly between ourselves,” George said to Fox News, adding that the counselor would lure scouts back to his cabin under the guise of watching John Wayne or western films.
“It would go from there. And then he'd tell the other kids to leave or I would leave because, you know, he didn't at that point. He wasn't tying you up yet. But as it progressed, he would get more, more controlling,” George said. “He would actually tie you down to the bed, literally tie you to the bed. And you might be there maybe 15 minutes. You might be there for hours.”
George added that the counselor abused scores of scouts at Camp Pomperaug in northeastern Connecticut for years and claimed that he was abused more than 100 times by the attacker and his friend. He and some of his fellow scouts even raised concerns directly to the owner of the camp but were dismissed.
“The owner would say, ‘no, he's just, you know…you guys go and watch a movie with him or whatever,’” George recalled. “None of us would say to him, 'Look, no, he tied me up. He sexually abused me'. None of us could do it. None of us would do it.”
“It didn't do us any good. I mean, to talk about it. I mean, only make us more upset. Do you know what I mean? So we just didn't talk about it. It's almost like spousal abuse," he added.
Like many who were abused, George never filed an official complaint against his attackers and is only coming forward now.
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"I'm hoping that they'll, that someone will take stock and say, 'look, you know what? This is wrong',” he said. “We've got to try and fix it, but I don’t think you can fix it. I don’t think I'll see if it'll be fixed in my lifetime.”
“But to try, so these kids that are coming up now … children that should not be worried about predators like that. That's, to me, very important.”
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