Comments about ‘LDS Church, Boy Scouts named in abuse lawsuit’

Where are the parents in all of this...they claim the church was at fault but the parents failed in reporting the crime...Greed has no end..If it happened I feel bad for them but if it's within their family and if the family fails to report it to police then they should take responsibility.

please, please, please end the relationship with the scouts and focus on DTG.

There are times when a child doesn't feel comfortable taking abuse to their parents and therefor goes to the safest person they can find. A lot of times the parent(s) are unaware. If the boys did indead go to the Bishop, it was the Bishops responsibility to go to the propper authorities. Kids are afraid when it comes to abuse of any kind and a lot of times they don't want to cause trouble for anyone. They simply want the abuse to stop.

What the DTG mean?

I think this is sad, but I agree that the parents should have been a part of this back when it happened and not now - also, jsut because the step -dad was in the scouts the BSA should not be charged unless it took place during their meetings or a campout or something like that.

I think that the scout program is a wonderful program and I feel sorry that there are people who use this program for horrible things.

I think greed has once more reared its ugly head

Agree - the affiliation with the BSA clearly has become more of a liability than an asset - both from a financial and a liability viewpoint.

DTG = Duty to God.

Any victims will please accept my regrets for the wrongs perpetrated against them.

The case itself is quite intriguing. A man filed suit against the BSA because he was abused by his step-father who was also a scout master. Seems odd. Is the step-father still alive? Has he been tried previously? Is he also a defendant?

Could a coach's son sue a former high school for abuses from his father?

Anyone familiar with the programs is aware that requirements for the Duty to God program and Eagle Scout program are interchangeable. The BSA could be dropped at any point with no change in the LDS youth program. I do, however, believe that the familiarity of the Eagle Scout award holds a value to recipients which would be lost if the LDS Church discontinued their relationship with the BSA.

I have received training from the BSA, and have been surprised in the policy changes instituted to prevent abuse. Both organizations have made great strides in the last two decades.

People that say that the church should break off ties with the BSA either don't know what they are talking about, or haven't thought about it. This alleged abuse happened many years ago, before current safeguards were put into place. The BSA has very stringent safeguards in place now, that are much higher than the church's safeguards. If the church is going to run a boys youth program, it needs the BSA's help. And the BSA needs the church, which is very influential in helping the BSA maintain high moral standards. Every activity in the BSA is about safety. The best youth protection training now comes from the BSA, not the church. In my observation, I have often seen and heard parents try to get around the BSA's strict guidelines, by sponsoring an activity as a "church only" non-BSA activity. That is just crazy. It's asking for trouble. If the church wants to run a boys activity program, there is no better organization to partner with than the Boy Scouts of America. The organization isn't perfect, but it is the best thing going.

Comprehensive youth protection rules, guidelines and procedures have been put in place in the scouting program over the last 30 years to ensure the safety of the youth. Bishops and youth leaders in the church need to take the BSA youth protection training, and follow the rules and guidelines. Every parent is required to read and discuss the youth protection guidelines with their boys, before that boy can receive their first badge. Nobody should be allowed to work with these boys as any kind of youth leader, unless they have turned in the BSA adult application. This will automatically start a background check. When that background check comes back clean, then the leader can assume responsibilities to work with the boys; not before. Bishops should make sure this rule and all other BSA guidelines that have been put in place to protect youth, are followed to the letter. If the Bishops don't know what the guidelines are, they need to get trained. Stake leaders should ensure that all ward leaders get the training. Lastly, parents need to remain vigilant and be actively involved with their children.

The church may not need the BSA, but scouting is a worthwhile program and the relationship between scouting and the church has been good for a lot of boys over the years. I had a lot of wonderful experiences as a boy scout and all of my leaders were exemplary men who behaved with the utmost integrity and lived by the highest moral standards.

I realize that there are scout leaders out there who abuse their positions of trust. I feel very sorry for the victims and totally support their right to seek compensation and justice. Scout leaders need to be well chosen, well trained, and well supervised. But on the whole, I think scouting is a good, desirable thing.

It has been proven in the past and recent charges and convictions continues to show LDS youth in the scouting and seminary programs are vulnerable to sexual predators. We must continue our vigilance in teaching valuable warning signs to all children!

I have been involved with Scouting for over 40 years and still believe it is the best program going for our young men. Sure, it has it's problems; the grossly excessive salaries paid to scout execs; the negative publicity as in these allegations; the declining level of parental participation, etc. All in all, with Scouting's warts and imperfections, there is nothing any better.

and no child should have to put up with sexual abuse. I know. I was abused also as a child. But I got over it thanks to many caring individuals. Having said that, I have to think that part of this is greedy lawyers going after deep pockets. Is the money really going to heal the victim? Having had the experience, I would say no.

Yeah, 40 years ago, someone abused me and only now that I found out that I can jump into bed with a sleazy ambulance chasing lawyer to try and get some free money, I am going to come forward and try to sue a big church and youth organization because they should have lots of free money to dole out whether my story is true or not!

Isnt there a statue of limitations on how long you can wait? How can anything be proven 40 years later on all hear say evidence! Why are individuals not responsible instead of loosely related churches! These are volunteer positions, not official church positions! We need to greatly revamp the legal system so that barring blatant negligence, we exempt churches and non profit organizations when individuals in volunteer positions are involved. Most Importantly we need to require these ambulance chaser lawyers to be responsible for ALL Legal fees when they file these expensive, frivolous lawsuits!

This guy is seriously disturbed and needs to heal through proper channels instead of suing the Church for something that happened decades ago, if at all. These people try to blackmail the Church because they know it doesn't like to be involved in controversy and negative publicity. And stop blaming bishops for everything, people. They are only human and aren't purposefully neglectful. It is up to VICTIMS to be persistent with bishops until an understanding has been reached, and not expect a bishop to have mind-reading capabilities.

The fact that this case is being brought over 30 years from the supposed events mean that he likely won't prevail legally against BSA and the LDS Church as that is too long a time period.
However the LDS Church appears to be taking the higher road in stating it "absolutely and unequivocally condemns sex abuse and will investigate."

but I no longer support the BSA financially. The BSA are run by volunteers on a local level but all the fund raising goes to give the scout executives these huge salaries. Look at what they make? The church needs to drop BSA. But they will not do it. The DTG cannot replace the scouts and the chuch has nothing to really put in its place. The church will just pay up whether they are guilty of not. It is the easiest way out. Too bad.

The Church does not NEED BSA to run a youth organization. I'm sure there are plenty of other alternatives. BUT that doesn't mean the church should break ties. I think there just needs to be smarter leaders. (For BSA, not the Church) I am tired of hearing about bad leaders abusing their scouts. And even worse is when they have "accidents" at camping events that cost kids their lives. I am aware that accidents happen when young boys are together, but BSA needs to do all they can to reduce the risk factor for scouts, both physically and emotionally.

Wow, and just now they are getting around to filing a lawsuit? Must have taken them a long time to find a lawyer slimey enough to take on the case. My other question was, if it was his step-dad that did the abusing, why not sue him? Or sue the DMV, they gave the guy a drivers license which allowed him to drive the boys out camping (if that is where the abuse happened)?

An abuse allegation over 30 years old? The judge ought to have the courage to stop this in it's tracks and dismiss. I'm not condoning abuse, but this is abuse of the system and someone looking for a pay day. There is no evidence and there can't be any evidence except one persons word over another. These people see the deep pockets of the church.