Boy Scouts Pedophiles Being Sued
April 5, 2010 2 Comments
The Boy Scouts of America are being sued for US$29 million by a man who was abused as a child.
I think it’s time we stopped blaming the institutions and instead look at the individuals involved.
If you are the kind of person who wants to abuse children, then you will, undoubtedly, gravitate towards jobs where children are ripe for the picking.
School teachers, Scout leaders, pre-school teachers, Sunday School teachers; these are all jobs where kids will have interaction with pedophiles.
The key here is to remember that these institutions are not intrinsically evil. They do the best they can by screening people, and punishing those who get caught, but if the perpetrator does not have a criminal record then they will have no idea that there is a problem.
Yes, if they know about it and then cover it up, that is a different story. But that’s not to say there still isn’t some merit in signing your kids up for Sunday school or Scouts.
We can’t assume that everyone who works there is a pedophile, and if you look at the statistics it’s actually more likely that kids will be abused by close family or friends like grandparents, uncles, or step-fathers.
We need to address the fact that these organisations have what “the plaintiff… described as the group’s silence on sexual abuses targeting children and teenagers at the hands of trusted scout leaders”.
The trial has forced the Scouts, which celebrates its centennial this year, to submit to the court for the first time in 20 years documents detailing sexual abuse it recorded.
That is, apparently they knew about it and tried to cover it up.
If so, those people involved should be punished, a better screening process needs to be put it place, and children need to be educated about how to protect themselves and what to do if something seems fishy.
Let’s deal with the problem without banning Scouts or Sunday Schools outright.
We must remember that the vast majority of teachers, Scout leaders, and priests are not child abusers and that most kids get a lot of benefit from being a part of these groups.
Mack, you couldn’t be more wrong.
If the Scouts continued to employ people they knew were child molesters, as the plaintiff claims, then they are definitely responsible for any abuse.
Most priests are lovely people, but the systemic covering up of child abuse means that the Church was implicit in hundreds of thousands of people being molested.
You say: “They do the best they can by screening people, and punishing those who get caught, but if the perpetrator does not have a criminal record then they will have no idea that there is a problem.”
They are not being sued for hiring child molesters, which, as you point out, is impossible to avoid. They are being sued for knowing that certain Scout leaders are child molesters and continuing to allow them access to children, and of covering up any evidence of abuse.
The case is not a matter is screening but a matter of KNOWINGLY EXPOSING CHILDREN TO ABUSE.
If these organizations covered up crimes to keep their names clean then they should be thrown in jail. Oh right, corporations can’t be thrown in jail. Looks like the only option is to hit them where it hurts, in the wallet. (Mick)
I totally agree. If they know about it and cover it up they should be punished and charged. That is an evil thing to do.
(Mack)