Former Huntsville Alabama Boy Scouts worker James McCullars was convicted last week by a federal grand jury in Indiana on charges of conspiracy to receive or distribute child pornography, conspiracy to sexually exploit a child and child pornography enterprise, court records show.
That, however, is not the whole story. What makes the McCullars arrest and conviction so horrific is the backstory. According to federal investigators, McCullars was one of the ringleaders of a massive, international child pornography distribution syndicate that operated from 2000 until arrests were made in 2012.
James McCullars’ Facebook page lists his occupation as “Sales Associate at Huntsville Scout Shop” and his previous occupation as “Camp Comer Scout Reservation”.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana said in a news release, “Gries and McCullars ran various online chat rooms that were protected by a password that was available exclusively to members of the conspiracy,” the release said. “These chat rooms were dedicated to the distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography, and were used by its members as a forum to discuss and promote the sexual exploitation of children.”
According to one media report, the US Postal Inspection Service began investigating McCullars as part of their worldwide child pornography distribution investigation in 2010.
Tim Molepske, the Huntsville Boy Scouts Deputy Scout Executive told the media that McCullars Scout membership was revoked after his arrest in 2012.
WAFF in Alabama reported in August 2014 that “McCullars volunteered with Boy Scouts of America at various events, including the National Jamboree. . . New evidence was found a few weeks ago that planned to introduce a victim who was 12 years old at the time of the alleged abuse to show McCullars had motive and had planned to exploit children on the web.”
McCullars’s arrest is part of a sad history of similar stories involving Boy Scout employees and volunteers. For instance, Douglas Sovereign Smith Jr., the BSA’s former national director for youth protection, spent nearly seven years behind bars (2005 – 2012) after police discovered hundreds of images of child pornography and videos on his home computer. Some included prepubescent boys exposing themselves and engaging in sexual acts.
Child molesters and child pornographers go where the children are. It is no surprise that they are found working for the Boy Scouts of America.