More Than 260 Pennsylvania Scout Officials are Accused of Abuse

For more information contact David Clohessy, Director, 314-566-9790 SNAPclohessy@aol.com
Barbara Dorris Outreach Director 314-862-7688 SNAPDorris@gmail.com

 
More than 260 Pennsylvania Scout officials are accused of abuse

Hundreds of long-secret files are released by victims' attorneys

SNAP applauds "wounded adults" who are "protecting others" by "exposing truth"

Group urges police and prosecutors to "scour the list" and "beg others to step forward"

 

More than 260 former Boy Scout officials across Pennsylvania are named as possible child molesters in long-secret documents that were disclosed yesterday because of successful child sex abuse lawsuits against the organization.

A list of the names is available at the Los Angeles Times website. They were released by attorneys in Oregon yesterday who represent victims of Scout staff and volunteers.

"This is the first time a nation-wide organization has been forced by brave victims and wise judges to disgorge their secrets about proven, admitted and credibly accused child sex offenders," said David Clohessy.

"Many of these crimes happened years ago, of course. But many of those who committed and concealed them are still around and walking free," said Barbara Dorris, SNAP's Outreach Director. "Law enforcement officials should use their skills, resources and 'bully pulpits' to urge victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward immediately so that at least some of these wrongdoers can be prosecuted."

"We applaud these brave men who found the courage to step forward, reveal their abuse and take legal action to help themselves and others. Virtually everything we know about the abuse and the cover-ups in scouting have been because of the victims not scouting officials," said Dorris.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 12,000 members. Despite the word "priest" in our title, we have members who were molested in many institutional settings, including Scouts, camps, schools and athletic programs. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)


Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, bblaine@snapnetwork.org), Peter Isely (414-429-7259, peterisely@yahoo.com), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com), Judy Jones, 636-433-2511, SNAPJudy@gmail.com