Dark History of Abuse and Cover-Up in Boy Scout Programs at Center of Lawsuit
PHILLIPS: Now a disturbing case that all of you parents should know about. A Boy Scout leader accused of sexual abuse but allegedly allowed to stay with the Scouts as a volunteer while the abuse continued. By itself, it's a horrific story, but an attorney now says it's just one thread in a pattern of cover ups by the Boy Scouts of America. CNN's Brian Todd reports.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As it marks a century of molding the character and morality of young men, this is another image the Boy Scouts of America must deal with, a convicted sex offender's deposition in open court and charges that the scouts' organization engaged in a culture of cover-up. How the Scouts handled the case of former scout leader Timmer Dikes (ph) is at the center of an explosive lawsuit in Portland, Oregon. Attorney Kelly Clark represents six men who are suing the Boy Scouts, alleging the organization knew that when they were young boys in the 1980s, at least one of them had been abused by Dikes. They also alleged that although Dikes was removed as a scout leader, he was allowed to stay on as a volunteer, and they claim the abuse continued.</s>KELLY CLARK, PLAINTIFF' ATTORNEY: When they knew this, the evidence will be, was in January,1983, before</s>TODD: The accusers' lawyers provided CNN with a copy of the complaint and their opening statement. We couldn't get similar documents from the defense, but in court, the Scouts' lawyers say the organization didn't know about Dikes' prior record and an outstanding warrant until he was pulled over during a routine traffic stop.</s>PAUL XOCHIHUA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That bench warrant wasn't known. Nobody followed up on it, until after Mr. Dikes was pulled over in Tillamook with several boys.</s>TODD: The Scouts' lawyers claim the organization acted immediately and cooperated with police, but Clark, the lawyer for the accusers, has a broader allegation. He produced documents that he says were part of an archive of secret Boy Scouts files chronicling the abuse of young boys for decades. Contacted by CNN, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America didn't respond specifically to that allegation. He said the organization does have confidential files. He said that's to protect information about people who are ineligible to be scout leaders but who may not have done anything illegal. I spoke about that with Patrick Boyle, author of a book about asexual abuse in the Boy Scouts, who says he's also seen some of these files.</s>TODD: What about the Boy Scouts' argument that, look, these files contain confidential information that could damage people who are not involved in these cases?</s>PATRICK BOYLE, AUTHOR, "SCOUT'S HONOR": Sure, they absolutely do which is one reason the first time these files were ever made public back in 1985 in a lawsuit, the Scouts blacked out the names of every victim and every molester. And then they turned the files over. So, there is a way to make these files public.</s>TODD: More details from those files could be made public as this trial progresses. While not commenting on the case, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America did say in recent years they've taken extensive measures to keep abusers out. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>PHILLIPS: The author that you just saw in that piece, Patrick Boyle says the Boy Scouts secret files of abuse go back -- ready for this --nearly 100 years. Patrick joins me now to talk about what he discovered. I just want to get right to the letters in these secret files, if you don't mind. Patrick, this one I'm looking at specifically, something that really bothered me about this, and it talks about the victim and the molester and what exactly happened. But here's what bugs me the most and disturbs me the most when it talks about action and recommendation. It talks about this troop leader no longer remaining active as volunteer, but then it says "he does not anticipate any criminal charges and believes the matter will be settled quietly." The matter will be settled quietly. That is appalling.</s>BOYLE: Unfortunately, you see memos like that throughout these files, Kyra. One of the main things to remember here is the Boy Scouts had these files confidential for a couple of reasons -- very good reasons, actually. One is to protect the boys and also some of these people what were not charged with crimes. But also, they were trying to protect the corporation. This is a very big corporation that brings in $150 million a year, and they frequently work to try to keep these cases out of court and out of the press because they know it would hurt the brand. I have to say, they didn't act unlike a lot of other organizations as well.</s>PHILLIPS: We're talking about thousands of possible cases out there. And we went to Boy Scouts of America, Patrick, and this is what they told us. "Scouts seeking to prevent child abuse through a comprehensive program of education or" -- I'm sorry, "scouting seeks to prevent this program of education, chartered organization leader selection procedures, criminal and other background checks barriers to abuse, prompt reporting and swift action." Okay. That's the statement, but that's not -- we haven't seen that happen in decades, and we're sitting here looking at papers that were in these files saying the matter will be settled quietly. What's the Boy Scouts of America doing to try to prevent sexual abuse like this?</s>BOYLE: They're doing more than they used to. Don't forget, these cases happened in the 1980s. And frankly, one of the things the Scouts were doing which was the same thing everybody else was doing, which was let's get these guys to go away and let's hold our noses and hope they don't bother us again. Churches did it, schools did it and the Scouts certainly did it. There's a lot of debate about how far the Scouts have come. They've done an awful lot more than they used to do and you read some of the list of activities there. It is not clear, Kyra, whether or not these are uniformly applied throughout the country, and that's one of the big questions for people who have kids in the Scouts. Do you always have criminal background checks? Do they cover people who were registered with the Scouts many years ago? After all, it is still a corporation trying to protect its image, and it's trying to protect the image of the good volunteers that carry out the Scout program around the country.</s>PHILLIPS: And we should point out there are a number of fabulous Scout leaders as well.</s>BOYLE: Right.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, you conducted interviews with eight former Scout leaders who molested boys. What did they tell you?</s>BOYLE: Well, they told me a couple of things. One of which was, unfortunately, although the scouts created a wonderful organization for boys, they also created a perfect organization for child molesters. Because they found the Scouts gave them access to a lot of boys all of a sudden. Gave them opportunities to be alone with those boys because of campouts and meetings in church basements. And most importantly allowed them to establish close relationships with these boys. Kyra, right from the beginning, the Scouts have pitched themselves as an organization that focuses on a man/boy relationship, a mentoring relationship that's supposed to be very close. That's a wonderful thing. But for some of these guys, that relationship enabled them to begin grooming these boys for sexual activity, and that's what eventually happened. A lot of them were shocked that they were able to get into the Boy Scouts even after been caught previously. The confidential file system that we're talking about here is extensive. It goes back as you said, almost 100 years, but it has hardly been foolproof.</s>PHILLIPS: That goes to show that there are not enough checks and balances in the system. So, how is it that the pope now can come forward and apologize for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, and the Boy Scouts of America can't do that?</s>BOYLE: I think it comes down to the fact that nobody has made them. I mean, the Catholic Church has been buffeted by this problem for many years, and there's bad publicity about the church. The Scouts have pretty much gotten away on a case-by-case basis. And I think, Kyra, one of the main reasons, frankly, is a lot of people have it out for the Catholic Church in the way they don't for the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts have a very good reputation, a lot of goodwill. And people have given them slack on this, and they're not apologizing because they really don't have to.</s>PHILLIPS: Your advice to me as a parent, I want to sign my son up for scouts. How do I know he is not going to get involved in a troop where when he goes on a campout that his leader is giving him alcohol, as I'm reading in some of these memos here, and he's waking up being molested in a tent?</s>BOYLE: Yes. That's a great question. I can tell you as a parent of three children myself. Here's two pieces of advice that came to me from frankly -- from molesters and parents and victims. Number one, if your kid is involved, you should be involved. That's what one father told me. These molesters tell me, Kyra, that they take advantage of kids whose parents are absentee. They said they could tell right from the first meeting which kids were going to be vulnerable to them because the parents just drop them off. It doesn't mean you have to be the coach. It means you could be the statistician, the snack parent, you talk to the coaches or the team leader. Or at least are at some of the practices. They have to see that you're there and you have to see what's going on. The second thing is you have to make sure your child is comfortable talking with you about abuse if something happens. And I know this really difficult, especially for young children. But there are a lot of good materials out there -- videos, books and Web sites that will help you have this conversation with your child. I've had them with my children. And the point is you can't guarantee nothing will happen, Kyra, but if you put children through this education, we do know they're more likely to stop abuse sooner, and they're more likely to tell their parents early. And that's really the best protection you can give them.</s>PHILLIPS: Patrick, you do fantastic work. The book is "Scout's Honor." I encourage every parent to pick it up, and I appreciate your insight today.</s>BOYLE: Thanks, Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Thanks, Patrick. The latest shot by Google to get by China's censors, trying an end through Hong Kong. Well, is China ready to respond?