Victim’s rights attorney Jeff Anderson on Tuesday said that nearly 8,000 alleged child sex abusers have been in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) since 1940, NBC New York reported.
“For many, many years there’s been an excavation of what are called the ‘perversion files’ — those are files held and hoarded at the Boy Scouts of America headquarters,” Anderson said at press conference in New York.
{mosads}”Those ‘perversion files’ that they’ve had reflect that they have removed thousands of offenders of childhood sexual abuse over the years and they’ve kept that in files secretly.”
Anderson said that there were 7,819 suspected perpetrators and 12,254 victims in the “perversion files,” citing testimony by a professional retained by the BSA to audit the files.
“That is a number not known before today or ever revealed by the Boy Scouts of America,” he said, according to NBC.
Anderson said his legal team has identified over 100 of the alleged perpetrators so far.
He reportedly plans to file multiple lawsuits against the Boy Scouts on behalf of the victims and demands the organization hand over their files, including names of those accused of abuse.
He will wait until Aug. 14, when New York’s Child Victims Act takes effect, to file the suits. The new rule essentially erases the statute of limitations to report a crime of childhood sexual abuse.
The BSA told The Hill in a statement that every instance of suspected abuse is reported to law enforcement and that accused individuals have been removed from the group.
“At no time have we ever knowingly allowed a perpetrator to work with youth, and we mandate that all leaders, volunteers and staff members nationwide immediately report any abuse allegation to law enforcement,” the group said.
“We care deeply about all victims of child abuse and sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting. We believe victims, we support them, and we have paid for unlimited counseling by a provider of their choice.”
They also said having a database system about abuse is “most often recommended by experts to keep kids safe.”
Updated: 4:28 p.m.
