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Los Angeles Times -
More than 1,200 files on suspected molesters in the Boy Scouts of America were made public Thursday, lifting the veil on decades of alleged abuse in one of the nation’s oldest youth organizations.
Times investigative reporter Jason Felch and producer Ken Schwencke discussed the story and The Times database produced from the files in a Google+ Hangout this afternoon (see video above.)
The court-ordered release of the files offers a detailed view of how the Scouts handled suspected molestations from the early 1960s through 1985.
FULL COVERAGE: Inside the ‘perversion files’
Suspected abusers from all over the country are named in the files — many of them never reported to police or charged with a crime. Doctors, lawyers, politicians and policemen are among the accused and many are about to face public exposure for the first time.
“The secrets are out,” said Kelly Clark, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers in an Oregon lawsuit that resulted in a nearly $20-million judgment against the Scouts in 2010. “Child abuse thrives in secrecy, and secret systems are where it breeds.”
Clark’s office made the confidential files public — minus the names of victims and others who reported suspected abuse — after the Oregon Supreme Court ordered their release in June at the request of news organizations including the Oregonian, Oregon Public Broadcasting, the New York Times and the Associated Press. Kept by the Boy Scouts for nearly 100 years, the files were intended for internal use to bar suspected molesters from rejoining the organization.
Read More: latimes.com
2012-10-19 23:20:53