(ChattahBox)—A $14 million sexual abuse lawsuit filed in Portland, Ore. is making headlines, due to the disturbing contents of confidential files from the Boy Scouts of America, which show that the organization knew of at least 1,000 pedophiles within the Scouts from 1965 to 1985, but hushed it up. Despite numerous sexual abuse lawsuits brought by victims against the Boy Scouts over the years, the confidential files were never obtained by plaintiffs’ attorneys, with most of the cases settled quietly out of court. Even more disturbing, the scoutmaster-pedophile, who molested the victim in the current lawsuit, confessed to Boy Scout leaders that he molested 17 Boy Scouts, but inexplicably, he was allowed to continue as a scoutmaster and have contact with boys. The plaintiff-victim in the suit, now 37, was sexually abused by scoutmaster Timur Dykes in the 80s, after Dykes confessed to the Mormon Bishop who was running the Boy Scouts group. Dykes was arrested and he pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree sexual abuse. His only punishment was probation and a court order to stay away from children. But the Boy Scouts allowed Dykes, by then a convicted child molester, to have continuing contact with young Boy Scouts. The nightmare didn’t end for the victims, until the police stopped Dykes in July 1984 driving a van filled with Boy Scouts on his way to a camping trip. The police discovered his 1983 conviction and took Dykes into custody.
Attorney Kelly Clark, who represents the victim in the lawsuit told jurors on Wednesday that the Boy Scouts organization did nothing to protect the victim and other victims like the plaintiff. “You will see a different face of the Boy Scouts of America” in coming weeks, said Clark.
According to the report in Oregon Live:
“The Scouts, Clark said in opening statements, knew it had pedophiles in its organization yet allowed Dykes and others to continue to associate with its members. He held up file folder after file folder from Boy Scout headquarters that he said proves the organization knew of at least 1,000 suspected child molesters from 1965 to 1985. “Those decisions led naturally, predictably and foreseeably to the abuse of boys like” my client, he said.”
Charles T. Smith, attorney for the Boy Scouts of America argued that the instances of sexual abuse were not the fault of the Scouts, since child molesters exist throughout society and they are difficult to keep track of. “These people move,” Smith said. “They go from state to state. And they change their names or their birth dates or they do something to try to slip back in.”
Clark is also representing seven other victims of Timur Dykes in suits against the Boy Scouts. Those same victims also sued the Mormon church, and the church settled out of court.
