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Man files suit against LDS Church, Boy Scouts

This is a perfect example of a greedy "low-life," with the help of his greedy attorney, blaming the Church for the alleged actions of the scoutmaster. No one in his right, charitable mind could believe that the Church or the Boy Scouts were indifferent or participants in any abuse that might have occurred. What a sad example of an immoral attempt to "make a buck" by using the legal principle of agency to blame innocent parties. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world . . ."

Time to call the Danites out on that attorney who keeps filing suit.
Mayhem: The church and scouts put the abuser in the position to do what he did. They are vicariously liable, the child certainly has the expecation to be protected, not abused.
This guy will get money although the suit is a little late, they should have done something way back when it happened.

Having just taken my BSA Youth Protection Training refresher for the third time since becoming a leader, I am proud to say that there are policies and training in place to recognize and report child abuse, whether sexual or otherwise. The well-known "two deep leadership" rule greatly reduces the opportunity for sexual abuse by an individual leader as alleged in this case.

Sounds like this guys broke and so he must have decided to copy and paste the last suit that was filed by the Idaho guy.

Why would this guy go to the media first before trying to settle something (like therapy) with the church? He is not out to heal, he wants money. Very sad to have a legal system in place that allows for misrepresentation like this.

This story gets one paragraph and it's at the bottom of the list of today's topics. Why even bother printing it? It should be up nearer the top where it can get some real attention.

Isn't there a little thing called "statute of limitations"? Also, what does this lawyer have against the Church?

I don't know if it happened or not or if he's just after money or not but... If his injuries were so "debilitating"... How has he gotten by for the past 41 years since it happened without telling anyone?

that is actually messed up that a person coiuld do that to a boy scout of the lds church i mean this is the real church of jesus christ of latter day saints give him a break. How rude

If this individual had said something when the alleged abuse was happening, it would have been dealt with and stopped. Action would have taken place and the child would have had immediate help. The Boy Scouts and the LDS Church are not responsible for incidents they knew nothing about. It is preposterous to believe otherwise. Use your common sense and you will know the truth. If you are being abused -SPEAK UP.......

A Young Men's leader is an official representative of the LDS Church as well as an official representative of the BSA. These organizations are
legally responsible and liable for the oversight of their legal representatives. If these representatives commit a crime under color of office, then these organizations are responsible, accountable, and liable.

I not only hope this lawsuit is very successful, I hope many more come to court and are successful to finally send a message to the LDS Church and the BSA that their programs have been seriously flawed; that the leadership of both organizations have been negligent in providing oversight and guidance; that THEY are the organizations that are unethical by taking HUGE sums of people's money (Tithing and Friends of Scouting donations) and providing incompetent, poorly operated programs.

I am just surprised that this suit falls within the statute of limitations. If I understand the article, the man alleges he was last abused in 1970.

I have to admit I disagree with some of Jay B's conclusions.
There are a lot of levels in this case. First, did the abuse actually occur. This leads to questions of the level of testimony needed to prove abuse.
Second, what cases would make the church liable. The church is not liable for all actions done by church members. Personally I think this liability has at times been extended too far.
The real questions are, Did church leaders have policies to prevent abuse? Were these policies followed and Did the church leaders have any suspicion that the scout master was an abuser?
Unless the church leaders had evidence that this man had abused in the past, or at least had complaints which they ignored, it is very hard to sue them for what happened.
Another question is were rules of conduct in church affairs broken. If these rules were broken either by the Scout Leader or the Bishop in his apointments, can the general church be held responsible.
Another question, at what point does tort liability for religious apointments violate the free exercise clause?

I wish this poor victim well. He is very brave to come forward, and to stand up for himself and others. This has happened too many times in recent history. There have been too many abusers working with children. Organizations must do complete background checks, weed out abusers, and take swift action when allegations arise.

Sexual abuse doesn't fall into the catagory of freedom of religion. If any church protects child abusers in any way, they deserve heavy penalties.

I don't see how you can try to blame the LDS church for this.
Yes, they do have policies, but just because some idiot didn't follow them doesn't mean the church is liable.
And you act like the Boy Scouts and the church planned for this to happen, like they KNEW it did.
Why would you spend so much time blaming the Scouts and the LDS church for something that happens EVERYDAY!?!?! This man is just making a big deal out of it because he has a specific people to blame.

The LDS Church controls the boy scouts in many regions directly, and many others indirectly.

As a former BSA leader in an LDS sponsored pack, I can attest that the BSA has strict guidelines that when followed properly would prevent this type of abuse from prevailing (Specifically 2-Deep Leadership)

I can also attest that stake primaries often cut corners in the operation of their packs, and fail to follow these basic guidelines to the detriment of the program and the boys involved.

Well it happened in the Catholic churhes,,it probably or could happen in all churches. It really dont matter who, or what institution it is, it can have pedophiles in it. and yes it is thier fault, they are responsible for the care and safety of thier kids (clients etc.). that are intrusted to them, and they have accepted that when they sign them up.

I once volunteereed with a local LDS scout group, and although I saw no abuse, I did see one father there whom I knew to be under indictment for child molestation. Thankfully, this man crucified himself at trial, by attempting to be his own attorney, while being represented by counsel. The judge slapped him with 20 years.

There seems to be a lot of sexual issues with a lot of religious groups, and I wonder if religion itself might not be a factor.

THIS case, however, stinks of a desire for money. It should have been looked into in 1967 when it allegedly happened, not 4 decades later. The "repressed memory" craze needs to GO, it's getting quite stale.

Ya know, I suddenly think I've been abused !!! GIMME SOME MONEY !

The LDS Church and BSA can do no wrong?!? Yeah, right. Lots of conclusions here based on a very short story. Probably swept everything under the rug like the Catholic church did.