Judge approves $2.46 billion Boy Scouts reorganization plan

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BY DENISE LAVOIE and RANDALL CHASE

A bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a $2.46 billion reorganization plan proposed by the Boy Scouts of America, which would allow it to keep operating while compensating tens of thousands of men who say they were sexually abused as children while involved in Scouting.

Though legal hurdles remain, the ruling by Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein in Delaware marked an important milestone for the BSA, which sought bankruptcy protection more than two years ago to stave off a flood of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers.

Lawyers for some of the victims said the amount an individual survivor may receive from the bankruptcy plan depends on multiple factors relating to the alleged abuse. The plan calls for the BSA and its local councils, along with settling insurance companies and troop sponsoring organizations, including Catholic institutions and parishes, to contribute to a fund for survivors. In return, those groups would be shielded from future lawsuits over Scout-related abuse allegations.

More than 80,000 men have filed claims saying they were abused as children by troop leaders around the country.



FILE - A close up of a Boy Scout uniform is photographed on Feb. 4, 2013, in Irving, Texas. A Delaware bankruptcy judge has approved a $2.46 billion reorganization plan Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, proposed by the Boy Scouts of America that would allow it to continue operating while compensating tens of thousands of men who say were sexually abused as children while involved in Scouting. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/sexual-abuse-boy-scouts-of-america-c52a60cd7b0b3df5b6e9c6247837611c?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_8

[cstanleytech]

1. Why do I sense the victims will be getting the short end of the stick here?

[GregariousGroundhog]

5. That's averages $30,000 per victim

That said, the article mentions that how much any one survivor receives will depend on several factors.

[elleng]

2. More than 80,000 men have filed claims saying they were abused as children by troop leaders

around the country.

[NullTuples]

3. "In return those groups would be shielded from future lawsuits over Scout-related abuse allegations"

I'm sure they just want to look forward not back and all that, but this almost seems to be admitting they know there's more out there.

[JT45242]

4. Full disclosure -- Scouter dad who was never a Boy Scout

I have been through a lot of youth protection trainings for Scouts, churches, and schools as a teacher and coach. There are likely more victims -- because the statistics of predators is that they usually are able to abuse dozens of children before they get caught (I have seen statistics with estimates of 50-100), but they are estimates because so few people come forward.

These lawsuits all stem from practices that were changed over 20 years ago.

Boy Scouts screwed up on this one, big time. But so did almost every other organization that dealt with youth -- churches, sports teams, etc.

Hopefully, this will help some of the victims (and not just go to lawyers) to deal with their pain.

My bigger hope is that through better practices that the Scouts, churches, sports teams, and schools are no longer places that predators use.

The reality is that most child predators are people that the family know and trust. With training and proper rules (things like no one on one contact between adults and youth and two deep leadership), we can minimize how often this happens in all organizations -- but be aware that your neighbor, cousin, or co-worker is a far greater risk than stranger danger ever was.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. I guess I got real lucky ... all the sex I had in Boy Scouts was with the other boys (nt)