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The Boy Scouts of America Files for Bankruptcy Amidst a Deluge of Sex Abuse Allegations

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Sex abuse allegations and lawsuits have dogged the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for at least ten years. Now the national organization has filed for bankruptcy as their insurance companies are refusing to pay any claims, saying that the BSA hid these cases when acquiring insurance.

The New York Times reports, “Jim Turley, the national chair of Boy Scouts of America, said in an open letter that the organization was entering bankruptcy in order to equitably compensate all victims of abuse through a trust. “I want you to know that we believe you, we believe in compensating you, and we have programs in place to pay for counseling for you and your family,” Mr. Turley said.

The Boy Scouts have already sought ways to navigate the organization’s dwindling influence among American children — the 2.4 million youth participants the group claims now are about half the number that were involved in the 1970s. In recent years, the group has changed membership requirements to allow openly gay scouts in 2013, then openly gay leaders in 2015, and then expanding to allow girls to participate starting in 2017. But legal pressures have only grown.

Read the full story here.

 

Photo above: Rose Parade January 2010, Pasadena, California. CC2.0

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