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Subscribe to RSSInvestigators release a series of meticulous files compiled by Boy Scouts of America detailing decades of widespread sexual abuse inside the organization. KING's Susannah Frame reports.
A Seattle attorney who released the names of nearly 1,900 men who were expelled from the Boy Scouts of America after complaints of child sex abuse says he did so in the interest of public safety and education.
“This is an issue of broad public safety concern,” attorney Tim Kosnoff of Kosnoff Fasy said Tuesday.
“People are asking, is Boy Scouts an organization that can be trusted? I say not the way it’s currently dealing, or failing to deal with, the problem.”
On Monday, Kosnoff posted a spreadsheet on his website naming Scouting volunteers who were expelled from the national youth organization from 1971 to 1991 after they were accused of molesting boys or other inappropriate behavior.
Kosnoff, who has sued the Boy Scouts of America on behalf of more than 100 alleged sex-abuse victims over the past decade, calls the list the Boy Scouts' “perversion files.” He says he gathered the names and other identifying information over many years from a variety of sources, including court cases and those who had access to the BSA database.
"Many of these individuals have never been given an opportunity to refute these allegations in a court of law," a note on Kosnoff's website says. "Therefore, we make no assumptions about their guilt or innocence."
Media outlets, including The Oregonian and The Los Angeles Times, have previously had access to the files and published stories about them. But Kosnoff said the summary he posted on the Internet on Monday has never been directly available to the public.
He said his website had so many hits after the list was posted that it crashed early Tuesday morning. He said he's gotten calls from reporters across the country, as well as dozens of emails and phone calls from the general public.
“There’s just been a lot of ‘God bless you’ type of messages,” Kosnoff told NBC News on Tuesday.
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According to The Oregonian, Kosnoff did not release the underlying Boy Scout files that his spreadsheet was based upon because they had not been redacted of the alleged victims' names. His action comes days before some 1,200 redacted files are expected to be released by another set of attorneys in Portland, Ore., as a result of an order by the Oregon Supreme Court. Those files span 1965 to 1985, significantly overlapping with Kosnoff's, The Oregonian reported.
Don Ryan / AP file
Attorney Peter Janci sets court case displays upon boxes full of records from the Boy Scouts of America in Portland, Ore., June 14. The Oregon Supreme Court approved the release of 20,000 pages of so-called perversion files compiled by the Boy Scouts of America on suspected child molesters within the organization for more than 20 years.
Media organizations had sued for the release of those files, part of a 2010 Oregon case in which a jury decided that the Scouts were negligent for allowing a former assistant Scoutmaster to associate with the organization's youth after he admitted molesting 17 boys in 1983.
Kosnoff said he hopes the newly released information will be useful to parents.
“Why not just let the public see the evidence and decide for themselves whether they want to entrust their children to this organization?” Kosnoff said.
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In a statement Monday, Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts, acknowledged that the organization had at times failed to protect the children in its care.
"There have been instances where people misused their positions in Scouting to abuse children, and in certain cases, our response to these incidents and our efforts to protect youth were plainly insufficient, inappropriate or wrong," Smith said, The Los Angeles Times reported. "Today Scouting is a leader among youth serving organizations in preventing child abuse."
In September, The Times reported that Scouting officials had failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.
Related stories:
Gay Scouts come out, rally around teen's Eagle Scout bid
Almost-Eagle Scout denied award because he is gay
Boy Scouts admit response to sex abuse was 'insufficient'
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Nope not at all an issue, Due you really think someone is going to find them and hurt them for molesting those poor Innocent little kids, I think there public safety is fine.. LOL
Good luck..
lol, what this does, is bring Society's stupid ignorance about sexual abuse to the forefront.
Advertising a list of names is dangerous. What is he doing, encouraging vigilantism? C'mon people, wise up.
Sure you want to keep your kids away from monsters. Lists of Pervs ain't gonna do it. Smartin up the kids to give them power over these POS that prey on them. Don't rely on a shoddy old government list. That's what the Nazis expected from the masses, and got.
There is no difference then reading the list of sexual offenders for your local area. Most lists say what there crime was and there exact address. So what does it matter if they release the names. They still could be molesting kids for all we know, at least with the names the parents can keep children away from him so he can not do it again...
Just Sayin..
Actually this will be helpful for parents who have or had a son in the Scouts who ended up with behavioral or emotional problems. I would want to know the names and see if they were anyone my kid interacted with. Good for him!
There is absolutely a difference. The public sex offenders database lists convicted sex offenders. This private list is of suspected or accused offenders who have not had due process. There is potential for a large, class-action lawsuit for libel, here.
At this point, this is nothing different than a witch hunt. Remember, this is the United States, where innocence is supposed to presumed until proven in a court of law otherwise.
Really L J? The "list of pervs" helps in PREVENTION. Just "smartin up the kids" isn't enough. Why wouldn't we use every tool we have to expose these types of ppl? Sure vigilantism could happen, so be it. We reap what we sow. PPL who harm children have no right to a normal life.
I thought everyone on this list was a child molestor. One of the guys on this list is known to me, he is Gay, and back in the day got caught up in a gay sting at the park. His name is Paul Whecter and you can find him on the list as one of these so called molestors. So a gay guy that goes to a park to meet other gay men is now considered a predator? You can find him on the list from Cicero Illinois.
This lawyer did such a fine job of listing everyone that he listed innocent people...why wasn't this name redacted? Did he check out all these stories for the truth or did he just hone in on the ones that gave him the biggest bang for the buck or in words money in his pocket.
Gay people should not be down on this just because they are gay and the list should be removed until the circumstances of whether these individuals were found guilty or not guilty by a court of law can be proven. There are obviously many innocent people on here. I would suspect if this is true about Paul that there might also be cases of kids that falsely accused some of the adults.
Some of this is really bad and no doubt people didn't know how to handle this stuff. This included the police and social service organizations. In just looking over the articles from the 70's and before, I find that even newspapers didn't know how to investigate and handle these problems.
The Boy Scouts should not be punished for trying to protect youth, there are many organizations that did nothing to protect their youth, but the Boy Scouts should not be commended for any stupid mistakes either. Let them pay the price for what they have done wrong especially the employees. Let's not forget that this problem is still with us big time in this country and we need to focus on the overall problem and stay away from trying to claim that just the Boy Scouts or the Catholic Church or Penn State should take all the blame.
Even the sexual predators list took years to put together because records were not computerized.
Shame on this attorney for going for gold and not protecting innocent people of which Mr. Whecter is an innocent. He touched no children...he's just gay, big deal.
Sure this attorney thinks he is preforming a public service but he should check the facts in each case before placing the list on the net. Mr. Whecter should get his own attorney and sue.
You make a good and valid point. There should be an absolute zero tolerance policy when it comes to the protection of the innocent lives of children. This attorney should make sure that he is not throwing the innocent to the wolves.
ooh so becuase you know him or he told you he was not a slap & tickel guy he should not be on the list? first would any molester tell you he was? second you must not have kids!
Never had any interest in children, my own or anyone's. I did not want the responsibility. Problem is that too many parents appear to think that their children are everyone's first and foremost responsibility. Libeling another person is justified because it makes you feel your child is safer? I don't buy it.
"Many of these individuals have never been given an opportunity to refute these allegations in a court of law," a note on Kosnoff's website says. "Therefore, we make no assumptions about their guilt or innocence."
He clearly identifies that many on this list have never had an opportunity to refute. This is because, according to the LA Times article, the BSA rarely reported the abuse to police and often actively discourage scouts and parents from reporting these crimes to the police.
These names represent individuals about whom the BSA concluded had a sufficient quantum of evidence to permanently expel them. This lawyer merely reveals allegations the BSA in consultation with their lawyers found sufficiently credible to place them on this list of individuals who should not have contact with children. Don't shoot the messenger folks. He did not create the BSA file nor the facts. He merely presented what BSA determined. Are kids safer because of this release? Definitely.
The BSA is a shameful organization. Now they are denying an almost-Eagle Scout that honor because he is gay. Could there ever be more hypocracy? They need to prosecute as many of these molesters as possible and then out them. Children are innocent targets for these people and they have been abandoned by the BSA, whom parents trust to take care of their kids. I know of several people in my old troop, but I was too young to know that it was wrong, just like these kids - they don't know what to do, and are taught to look up to these men, but will be scarred for their entire lives. BSA needs to be shown up for what it is, an organization that aids and abets child molesters.
Similar to the catholic church????
And Penn State
Um,, some are missin the point here,, the point is , BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA kept these files on known abusers, and didnt DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, didnt report them!!!, they just denied their registration as a scout leader????, let the pervs go on their marry way, The leaders in that organization that allowed this to happen for all these years should be lined up and SHOT!!! regardless if anybody had due process, it was because the organization HID them!!! OMG, this is so aweful, first Priests in Churches, then football coaches , now the BOY SCOUTS,, Jesus where are you!!!!!!!!!!!! Please Hurry, we cant take this anymore!!!!!!!!!
I was in scouts since I was a kid. got my eagle at 18 and definitely learned and enjoyed it alot. The organization itself is a very good and helpful organization that has had its flaws. People are demonizing them now when these lists are all prior to new regs and a vastly improved effort to ensure that these kids are kept safer. There never any problems in my troop through the entire time i was in nor any camp i went to. did they @!$%# up a bit by not reporting these cases, yeah. did they admit to it? also yeah. Theyve improved a ton and are still a great organization. in regards to their views on homo sexuality, especially with preventing that kid from getting his eagle, I dont agree with that at all. people need to remember though that they are a private organization financially backed by right wing religious groups. they are entitled to not allow homosexuals into their group. i dont agree with their position but it is their call. i really do hope they give that kid his eagle rank back. its a tough road to get your eagle and he definitely earned it doing the work to get it. Im still a proud eagle scout even being out of scouts now for years now and despite my disagreements with the organization i still will support them and hope calls for positive change will reach the leaders.
If it was your child that was molested???
What if just one of these people are innocent? Their names are forever "on the list" of pedophiles? Maybe 99% are guilty as sin but that's not right to bring down even one innocent man with the rest esp without the right to defend themselves. People could get fired over this list, innocent people.
Also, people are mad as hell at the boy scouts right now. Why is all of this coming out this year? They've had this info for how many years? This was published is other papers before--per this article. This smells of political agenda that's it's released right now. It's like someone wants to take down the Boy Scouts and will stop at nothing until they do so.
Of they are innocent, then they can prove their innocence...but, why let all the guilty go scott free? Strange that anyone would want to protect pedopjiles.....If it was my child that was molested..I would have NEVER allowed it to be swept under the carpet....
No, publish the info....parents and children deserve the right to confront the molesters and sue the heck out of BSOA
time to pull the charitable tag.
We need to stop protecting the criminals and start protecting the children.
Think of how many would have been spared being molested had someone had the guts to do the right thing years and years ago...same as in the Sandusky situation. These molesters do not deserve any protection. They betrayed the trust of parents and the children, they committed illegal acts.....publish their names and information so families will know to keep their children well away from them.
A boy scout "leader" in Arkansas in a park actually approached me and asked if I would let him be with my son in a tent for awhile....we packed up and left that day....PUBLISH their names...plaster their faces from coast to coast...let them feel like victims for awhile.
While I am on this: Boy Scouts Of America have lost my respect for hiding this while time ran out to prosecute many of these men....why that is not criminal I don't know, but, obvious some laws need to be changed! I'll not support an organization that would shielf molestors. Please, all families of molested children from the Boy Scout leaders, please SUE!!!! Sue big time....this was a very dishonorable thing on the part of the Boy Scouts Of America organization.
Someone called these acts illegal acts, no, they are heinous acts. While I think child molesters should have the book thrown at them, no one who has not been found guilty should be on this list. This could ruin their whole life, just as much as being molested could ruin someone's whole life.
While I believe that the BSA has every right to declare that homosexuals cannot be scout leaders, I don't think that boys who are gay should not be scouts. They should not be denied the eagle scout award that they have earned. But as several have pointed out, the BSA is a private organization and they can make their own rules. And I will continue to support them.
Why don't homosexuals start their own homosexual scout group and see how many parents would want their boys to be a part of it? I doubt if even liberals would really want their little boys to be a part of it.