Troubling new details of about 200 Boy Scout leaders in New York and New Jersey accused of sexually abusing children was released on Tuesday, according to the New York Post.
The accused leaders worked in New York and New Jersey, according to law firms representing the victims. The Boy Scouts of America compiled a list of sexual misconduct in “perversion files,” which documented sexual abuse instances dating as far back as the 1940 up to 2007 that were kept secret from the public. The law firms allege that there are more than 7,000 child sex abusers in the Boy Scouts, according to The Post.
Fifty two former Boy Scouts leaders from New Jersey who allegedly committed sexual abuse against boys as part of the “Perversion Files” were listed by a law firm committed to exposing the internally covered systemic abuse allegations, wrote NJ.com
The Boy Scouts of America released a list titled “Ineligible Volunteer Files,” which first came to light in 2012. These files are among about 7,000 child sex abusers with connection to the Boy Scouts nationwide.
According to Jeff Anderson of the New York-based Jeff Anderson & Associates law firm, there are 12,254 victims in the “Ineligible Volunteer Files” files. On Tuesday, 130 former leaders were named, including priests, according to Anderson.
“They may have removed them from scouting, but the Boy Scouts of America have never alerted communities that this scout leader, this coach, this teacher is known to be a child molester,” Anderson told NJ.com. “That is the real alarming fact that needs to be mentioned today. It’s systemic and across the country.”
The list of names, Scout troop numbers and municipalities are published on NJ.com.
The Boy Scouts of America told NBCNews 4 in a statement that they “care deeply about all victims of child sex abuse and sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting.”
AbusedInScouting.com posted the following statement: “These sexual predators took advantage of the innocence of children and/or enticed them with illegal activities. In the Boy Scouts of America files, hundreds show Scout leaders allowed boys to drink alcohol, drive cars, or look at pornography. As the trust continued to build, Scout leaders would often gradually test physical boundaries during skinny dipping, group showers, sleepovers and one-on-one activities.”
Specific instances of abuse have been documented on AbusedInScouting.com dating from 1971 up to 2012.
