Boy Scouts of America Declares Bankruptcy over Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
The Boy Scouts of America declared bankruptcy following years of declining enlistment and mounting claims of sexual assault.
The Boy Scouts of America, a notable entity in the US for over a century, declared bankruptcy early Tuesday, capitulating to financial obligations that introduced a flood for legal expenses over its handling of sexual abuse allegations.
Established in 1910, the Boy Scouts have for many years kept records at their base camp in Texas enumerating charges against almost 8,000 "perpetrators," according to an expert retained by the association.
The Declaration of Bankruptcy by the Boy Scouts
The bankruptcy declaration, in Delaware, is required to disrupt proceeding with a lawsuit and set up a cutoff time for when previous scouts can seek after claims.
"If you’ve ever considered coming forward, now is the time," said Tim Kosnoff, a legal counsellor who has since a long time ago worked on Boy Scouts cases and is a part of a team of lawyers who made an Abused in Scouting Victims association.
Confronting around 300 lawsuits charging sexual offenses by staffers and volunteers, the Boy Scouts are thinking about a bankruptcy filing covering the national governing body yet barring 261 local councils. Councils manage local troops and possess assets including land in several states.
A bankruptcy declaration is a dramatic move by the Boy Scouts, established in 1910, to secure their financial resources and settle with victims of sexual abuse as the association faces declining enrollment. The Wall Street Journal detailed in late 2018 that the Boy Scouts were thinking about bankruptcy
Endless Discovery of Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
The Boy Scouts of America are also confronting new claims of sexual violations from around 800 men all over the country, according to legal counsellors that represent them. One of the men filed a lawsuit on Monday in Philadelphia.
The offended party, a Luzerne County, PA man recognized in the suit as S.D., says an assistant scoutmaster molested him at a camp and at the scoutmaster's home on many occasions during the 1970s, through the span of around five years ever since he was around 12 years of age. Named as defendants in the trial are the scoutmaster, Paul Antosh of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; the national Boy Scouts of America association, situated in Texas; and the provincial Pennsylvania Mountains Council.
