The
sex abuse scandal of the Boy Scouts has continued to unravel, including one leader
who has been involved in the acts for decades. This man, Floyd Slusher,
from Colorado allegedly had a devious plan when it came to attacking his
victims. He would first get them drunk, and then molested his underage
victims, and the reason no one spoke a word was because he would threaten
to murder them if they did.
One case from 1976 involved a very bold statement made to his victim. Allegedly
he threatened his victim saying that even if he gets arrested for his
actions, once he was released from prison, he would not only come after
the boy, but also his family. No wonder the children were too scared to
tell the police. According to the police reports, word had been brought
to the Boy Scouts of America multiple times about Slusher's actions,
and at one time was placed on four year probation after an incident involving
a boy in Germany at camp. Police state that when they were contacting
Slushers victims for statements, there were actually too many people to
contact, the list was that extensive.
The Boy Scouts of America had received multiple times news about his actions,
and sat on top of the information rather than acting on it. He was convicted
for sexual abuse before the court in 1977, and sadly he is not the only
one whose name is on the list of child molesters that the Boy Scouts of
America keeps on file. Rather, Slusher is only one of 1,247 people that
were kept secret by the organization.
Under court order, the Boy Scouts of America was forced to release this
alleged list of names just this Thursday. With over 20,000 pages of files
on the different cases of abuse and molestation that took place within
their group, the public has been shocked to hear how many people were
involved. The scary news is the fact that these instances have been documented
by the Boy Scouts since 1919 that included suspected pedophiles, so that
when released from work they wouldn’t be able to come back to receive
employment elsewhere. Despite their efforts to keep the pedophiles out
of the system, in what is now almost 100 years of secrecy, they failed
the children of their country by keeping these names a secret from the
government.
Between 1965 and 1985 there were a lot of cases that took place within
the organization, and the police so far have been able to address around
two thirds of the instances after receiving the documents. Even though
the organization didn’t want the pedophiles back in their system,
they clearly failed to take necessary steps to seeking justice when there
are abuse cases. At this point in times, the Boy Scouts maintains much
stricter standards when it comes to molestation, including the hiring
process, and background checks, as well as extensive training for the
leaders to spot signs of abuse. There are much stricter rules for the
leaders and students, and they are never allowed to be one on one with
each other.
More disturbing news that was released is with the cases between 65’-85’
there were times that the organization did rehire the pedophiles after
they received treatment from a doctor or clergy. There were multiple cases
during this time in which people even convicted of sexually abusing boys
were allowed back into the Scouts. This did not sit well with many parents.
One father in Texas reported a man to the police for molesting all three
of his sons who were in the program. After being arrested, the man was
released on bail, and the Scouts allowed him to return to his place of
employment no long after. The Boy Scouts of America claims that they believed
they were doing what they could to protect the Scouts, by keeping the
incidents quiet. They claimed that they kept reports for their own usage,
and yet still so many returned to their posts.
At this time 20,000 pages of documents only cover that period of two decades,
and the same judge is doing what he can now to receive access to all the
files from 1985 until 2010. Child abuse is never ok, and no kid should
have to experience this form of torture. If you or someone you know has
been a victim of sexual abuse, don’t wait another moment to take
action, as well as seek after compensation for the pain that it has caused. Contact
Knowles Law Firm today to discuss your situation.