Over the past 40 years, about 160 Explorer Scouts have been raped, sodomized, kissed, dated and otherwise exploited by 129 police, sheriff's deputies, firefighters and state police in 115 separate cases across the country. Seventy-five cases resulted in criminal charges and 19 in lawsuits. The youngest victims were 13. One was in the sixth grade. In Rhode Island, six officers had sex with one girl.
From the Courier-Journal:
... Court testimony shows the victims, like one girl in Rossford, Ohio, who was sexually abused in 2015, suffered incalculable emotional and psychological losses — as well as shattered dreams. “When I first met you, you were a kind person to me, someone I could trust to teach and support me on my journey to becoming a great firefighter,” the girl said to Thomas Watson in a victim statement when he was sentenced in 2015. “Because of your actions, I struggle daily to wake up and function as a normal, happy 18-year-old.” The girl's mother said she had struggled with seizures and suicide attempts. The Courier-Journal's review found that allegations have been swept under the rug by some police departments and that Learning for Life — the Boys Scouts of America affiliate that runs the Explorer program for young people ages 13 to 21 — waited for years to adopt some safeguards and haven't enforced others, leaving police departments to police themselves.
Read Full Article »
