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The
bankruptcy is not expected to affect the organization's
programs, which promote self-reliance through outdoor activities
such as hiking and camping. The group was already struggling
with declining membership and controversy over admitting gay and
female members.
The Boy Scouts, based in Irving, Texas, has said that it
sincerely apologizes to anyone harmed, that it believes the
accusers and that it encourages victims to come forward.
Founded in 1910, the organization has been overwhelmed by
hundreds of claims after several states, including New York,
removed legal hurdles that had barred people from suing over old
allegations of child sex abuse.
The changes to the law coincided with the #MeToo movement and a
shift in public opinion that has been more supportive of
accusers. The result has been a wave of lawsuits against church
leaders, doctors and schools, as well as scouting.
The Boy Scouts has said in a statement that "we can live up to
our social and moral responsibility to fairly compensate
victims" while "also ensuring that we carry out our mission to
serve youth, families and local communities through our
programs."
Paul Mones, who represents hundreds of men who claim they were
abused as scouts, told Reuters: "The bankruptcy is being filed
as a result of decades of concealing abuse by the Boy Scouts and
their adult leaders."
The bankruptcy, filed in Delaware, will allow the Boy Scouts to
bring all of the lawsuits into one court and try to negotiate a
settlement, rather than using the organization's funds to fight
each case in court, which might leave some victims with nothing.
A similar bankruptcy strategy to resolve sex abuse lawsuits has
been used by more than 20 Catholic dioceses and USA Gymnastics.
It could, however, be challenging to determine the value of the
Boy Scouts' assets. The national organization said in its most
recent annual report from 2018 that it had $1.5 billion. But
hundreds of local councils have their own assets, and victims
may try to make those available for settling claims.
Membership in the organization's Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts fell
13% at the end of 2018 from the end of 2012, according to its
annual report.
The Boy Scouts lost a major source of support when the Mormon
church said it would no longer sponsor scouting troops,
beginning in 2020. The move by the Utah-based Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints came shortly after the Boy Scouts
said it would drop "boy" from its program for older youths and
after saying it would admit transgender scouts.
The church said its decision was not influenced by the Boy
Scouts' changes, but by a desire to focus on its own youth
programs.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by
Noeleen Walder, Dan Grebler and Gerry Doyle)
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