Scouting Often Exposes Boys to Sexual Abuse (From Child Abuse: Opposing Viewpoints, P 126-134, 1994, David Bender and Bruno Leone, eds. -- See NCJ-159823)

• NCJ Number: 159838
• Author(s): P Boyle
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Greenhaven Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Opposing Viewpoints Series

Annotation

Although the Boy Scouts organization is supposed to help young men become strong, healthy, and competent, 1,151 Boy Scouts reported being sexually molested by their leaders between 1971 and 1989 and 416 men were arrested or banned from the Boy Scouts for molesting boys in their care.

Abstract

Each year from 1971 through 1989, an average of 21 male Boy Scout leaders and camp workers were banned from the organization or arrested for sexual misconduct with Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Explorers. The acts ranged from proposing sex and fondling boys in their sleep to performing oral sex and intercourse with them. During the period, an average of 60 Boy Scouts were abused each year, with some abused multiple times before they told anyone. Boy Scout officials tried to hide the sex abuse problem from the public, the press, parents and the police. Camping trips were the most popular places for Boy Scout leaders to have sexual relations with boys. In many ways, the problem of child sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts organization reflects the problem of child sexual abuse in the United States. The impact of child sexual abuse is illustrated by a lengthy case example.