A judge overseeing a lawsuit by the family of a California boy molested by his troop leader has ordered the Boy Scouts of America to hand over confidential files containing accusations of sexual abuse by its leaders throughout the country.

The Boy Scouts of America showed reckless indifference to protecting young Scouts when it kept confidential two decades worth of files on suspected molesters among its troop leaders, a psychologist testified as part of a $14m lawsuit against the organisation.