Scout sex abuse lawsuit

THE lawyer for a US man who filed a $29 million (€21m) sex abuse lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America told a jury the Scouts knew they had a serious problem but failed to act.

Kelly Clark said the organisation had been keeping a list of Scout leaders suspected of abuse since the 1920s but never came up with any system to improve screening, reporting or prevention.

But a lawyer for the Scouts, Chuck Smith, told the jury the organisation relied on local volunteers to take action because they were supervising the boys — not the national organisation.

Mr Clark also referred to six boxes of files stacked in the courtroom that became known during the three-week trial as the “perversion files” because they document suspected abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers.

Mr Clark told the jury the Scouts have files stretching back over nearly a century, and that alone should have told them they had a serious problem that needed to be addressed more effectively.