The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with 2.3 million youth members and approximately 889,000 adult volunteers in 2017. In 1979 there were over 5 million youths in BSA.
The high risk of sex abuse in volunteer youth organizations has been recognized, and, in 1988, the BSA created a sex abuse education and prevention program called the Youth Protection program to help address the problem. There were around 2,000 reported cases of abuse within the Boy Scouts of America prior to 1994.
In 2010, a jury ordered that the Boy Scouts of America pay million (equivalent to $ million in ) to a scout who was abused in the 1980sthe largest punitive damages award to a single plaintiff in a child abuse case in the US.
On February 18, 2020, the Boy Scouts of America filed for a Chapter 11 financial restructuring to offer "equitable compensation" to survivors and their families. The BSA cited approximately 200 pending lawsuits in state and federal district courts across the United States and 1,700 potential claimants in total. In May of that same year, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware set November 16, 2020, at 5 pm EST as the bar date for all survivors of sexual abuse; 92,700 sexual abuse claims were filed with the bankruptcy court by the deadline.
In December 2021, the insurer for the BSA agreed to pay $800 million into a fund for survivors, and in September 2022as part of their bankruptcy settlementthe BSA agreed to pay over $2.4 billion into the fund, with payments beginning in September 2023.
1988 Youth Protection program
The Boy Scouts of America has long struggled with the problem of sexual abuse and how to handle abuse allegations. J.L. Tarr, a Chief Scout Executive in the 1980s, said regarding sexual assault cases against Scout leaders across all 50 states: "That's been an issue since the Boy Scouts began." Several reports have surfaced over the years regarding incidents of sexual abuse within the BSA to include incidents of repeat offenders. There have also been several high-profile court cases involving such incidents that resulted in convictions and settlements.
In the 1980s, BSA developed its Youth Protection program, a comprehensive program to educate and prevent abuse. A centerpiece of the program is the "two deep" leadership criterion, which dictates that no adult can ever be alone with any of the members. Before joining, a member must discuss with their parents a pamphlet on sexual abuse. The Youth Protection Plan from the organization is linked to a CDC report on such programs.
Kenneth Lanning, the FBI agent who helped develop the BSA's Youth Protection Plan, wrote that "A skilled pedophile who can get children into a situation where they must change clothing or stay with him overnight will almost always succeed in seducing them."
BSA adopted the following policies to provide additional barriers to child abuse within scouting. These policies are primarily for the protection of its youth members; however, they also serve to protect its adult leaders from false accusations of abuse. Two-deep leadership. Two registered adult leaders or one registered leader and a parent of a participant, one of whom must be 21 years of age or older, are required on all trips and outings. The "two-deep" policy requires that a minimum of two adults be present during all activities to minimize the potential for clandestine abuse. The chartered organization is responsible for ensuring that sufficient leadership is provided for all activities. No one-on-one contact. One-on-one contact between adults and youth members is not permitted. In situations that require personal conferences, such as a Scoutmaster's conference, the meeting is to be conducted in view of other adults and youths. Respect of privacy. Adult leaders must respect the privacy of youth members in situations such as changing clothes and taking showers at camp and intrude only to the extent that health and safety require. Adults must protect their privacy in similar situations. Separate accommodations. When camping, no youth is permitted to sleep in the tent of an adult other than his own parent or guardian. Councils are strongly encouraged to have separate showers and latrine facilities for females. When separate facilities are not available, separate times for male and female use should be scheduled and posted for showers. Proper preparation for high-adventure activities. Activities with elements of risk should only be undertaken with proper preparation, equipment, clothing, supervision, and safety measures. No secret organizations. The Boy Scouts of America does not recognize any secret organizations as part of its program. All aspects of the scouting program are open to observation by parents and leaders. Appropriate attire. Proper clothing for activities is required. For example, skinny-dipping is inappropriate for scouting. Constructive discipline. Discipline used in scouting should be constructive and reflect the values of the organization. Corporal punishment is never permitted. Hazing prohibited. Physical hazing and initiations are prohibited and may not be included as part of any scouting activity. Junior leader training and supervision. Adult leaders must monitor and guide the leadership techniques used by junior leaders and ensure that BSA policies are followed.
The plan has been criticized for not making criminal background checks a requirement for all volunteers until 2008 and that failure to require those allowed additional child molesters into the organization.
Circa early 2020, BSA indicated that over 90% of its youth protection-related pending lawsuits were for alleged incidents more than 30 years before that date.
BSA adults are required to complete the youth protection training program every two years. In 2019, the program was substantially expanded to include other aspects of youth protection, such as bullying, and new provisions were added related to the expansion of girls' participation in BSA programs. All BSA adults were required to complete the new training program in 2019. All volunteers over the age of 18 are required to complete the training and failure to do so leads to the removal of their membership until the following year when they can register again. In 2025, the youth protection training program was updated to require BSA adults to complete the training program on an annual basis.
1991 Washington Times investigation In May 1991, The Washington Times published a major five-part investigation into sex abuse in the BSA entitled "Scouts Honor". Staff from the newspaper had worked for two years preparing the series, reviewing internal and personnel records from the Boy Scouts; court records from more than 20 states, and more than 1,000 newspaper articles; as well as interviewing more than 200 people, including molesters, families of victims, Scout leaders, sex abuse experts and lawyers. The newspaper restricted itself to reported cases of male Scout leaders abusing Boy Scouts before the introduction of its Youth Protection program. In summation, they wrote "The Boy Scouts are a magnet for men who want to have sexual relations with children... Pedophiles join the Scouts for a simple reason: it's where the boys are."
The series drew on three sources: Historical "confidential files" (formerly known as the "Ineligible Volunteer Files") within Scout records, with details on 231 Scout leaders banned from Scouting for sexual misconduct from 1975 through 1984. 50 lawsuits against the Scouts by families of molested boys from around the US. A list from the BSA of more than 350 men banned for sexual misconduct from 1971 to 1986.
The newspaper discovered that 1,151 Scouts reported being abused by their leaders during the studied 19-year period, mostly before the implementation of the Youth Protection Plan. They published a detailed list of 416 cases from 1971–1990 where a US Scout leader was arrested or banned from Scouting for sexual abuse of scouts, adding that experts said the real number of abusers and victims was probably several times higher. The newspaper articles later formed the basis for a book by the main journalist involved, Patrick Boyle: Scout's Honor: Sexual Abuse in America's Most Trusted Institution.
The series, written shortly after the inception of BSA's Youth Protection program, concluded that "After decades of shying away from the problem, the Scouts have created what many child abuse experts call one of the best sex abuse education programs in the country. The program teaches boys, leaders, and parents about resisting, recognizing, and reporting abuse."
Legal actions A number of lawsuits have resulted from Boy Scouts of America sex abuse cases. A study of 50 lawsuits against the BSA showed that from 1986 to 1991 BSA and local councils agreed to pay more than $15 million in damages. According to federal tax returns, BSA payments to one law firm in Miami working on abuse cases were more than one-half million dollars; the BSA insurance reserve, from which the damages are paid, stood at $61.9 million.
The actual payment total, reported by "The Washington Times" in 1991, is probably far higher because the Scouts sometimes agree to pay damages only if the payments are kept secret. Insurers commonly require damage awards to be kept confidential.
In August 2007, the Washington state Supreme Court ordered BSA to hand over documents concerning sexual abuse by Scout leaders. These documents showed that the organization removed about 180 of its leaders each year, although most of these removals have to do with other issues besides child abuse.
Lewis v. Boy Scouts of America et al. (2010) The 2010 case Lewis v. Boy Scouts of America et al. was filed in Multnomah County, Oregon, by Kerry Lewis, a former member of the BSA who alleged having been abused by former scout leader Timur Dykes in the 1980s. In 1983, Dykes had confessed to the local BSA co-ordinator that he had molested 17 Boy Scouts, but was allowed to continue working with the Scouts where, attorneys argued, he subsequently abused Lewis.
In 2010, the jury on the case held in favor of the plaintiff and ordered that the Scouts pay $18.5 million as punishment for their actions—the largest punitive damages awarded to a single plaintiff in a child abuse case in the US. Kelly Clark, an attorney representing the abused scout, had alleged the BSA failed to properly handle the abuse, saying "We saw numerous examples of the Scouts writing to law enforcement saying 'it would be best for the good of Scouting if this could avoid being made too public.'"
Some observers said the case "could have a snowball effect in much the same way high-profile molestation suits against the Roman Catholic Church had". Patrick Boyle, author of Scout's Honor: Sexual Abuse in America's Most Trusted Institution, was quoted as commenting "Until this case, the Boy Scouts of America had managed to keep these cases largely underwater nationally. All of a sudden, it's gotten blown out of the water and the public knows that the Scouts have had this problem, too -- just like the Catholic Church."
The trial allowed an American jury to view confidential files held by BSA, although BSA had fought to keep the files secret. They showed that BSA's knowledge of abuse dates back to the 1920s. Reports said that in the US, the Scouts settled about 60 similar historic cases out of court over recent years. In 2010 in Portland, Oregon, attorneys Paul Mones and Kelly Clark won a $19.9 million verdict against the Boy Scouts of America filed by a former scout who had been sexually abused by his Scout leader in the mid-1980s. This verdict resulted in the release of the "perversion files" that had been maintained by the Boy Scouts for about ninety years. The files, which were released for the period 1965 through 1985, detailed the sexual abuse of scouts by their adult leaders.