FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 7, 2016
FORMER BOY SCOUT BROTHERS FILE FRAUD LAWSUITS
AGAINST BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
FOR SEXUAL ABUSE BY OREGON CITY SCOUTMASTER
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Gilion C. Dumas 503-952-6789 gilion@dumaslawgroup.com
Ashley L. Vaughn 931-206-0090 ashley@dumaslawgroup.com
PORTLAND, OREGON: Two brothers and former Boy Scouts filed separate sexual abuse lawsuits claiming fraud by the Boy Scouts of America and Cascade Pacific Council today. (Multnomah Co. Circuit Court Case Nos. 16CV07125 and 16CV07124) The suits allege that the brothers were repeatedly sexually abused by their Scoutmaster, the notorious pedophile Clyde Brock, in the late 1960s. Also, the suits allege that BSA and CPC were aware of the danger that adult volunteers targeted Boy Scouts to sexually abuse boys and hid that danger from boys and their parents, thereby committing fraud. The men, proceeding under the pseudonyms R.D. and R.S., were Scouts in Troop 220 in Oregon City, Oregon.
Two other brothers also were abused by Brock at the same time. One brother also was a Scout in Troop 220 and had an earlier lawsuit against the same Defendants. (Multnomah Co. Circuit Court Case No. 14CV05531) The youngest brother was in the Cub Scouts. The trauma of the abuse drove the brothers apart. Three of the four joined the military when they were still teenagers and they were never close as adults. R.D. and R.S. now have stepped forward to reveal what happened to them and seek justice.
Gilion C. Dumas and Ashley L. Vaughn, of the Dumas Law Group, LLC, filed the lawsuits today in Multnomah County Circuit Court. These are the second and third civil lawsuits concerning Brock, who was kicked out of the Boy Scouts in 1968. BSA records show that the Boy Scouts found out Brock was abusing boys in his troop by at least early 1968 when two boys accused him to the head of the Troop 220 troop committee. Those boys identified ten other boys in the troop as victims, including, it is believed, these Plaintiffs and their brothers.
This disclosure led to BSA creating an Ineligible Volunteer File (“IV File”) on Brock in 1968. Brock’s file was one of over 1,200 BSA “Perversion Files” that the Oregon Supreme Court ordered made public in 2012. It was one of the files considered by the jury in the 2010 Kerry Lewis trial in Portland before the jury awarded over $18 million in punitive damages against BSA. Ms. Dumas was one of the trial attorneys representing Mr. Lewis in that case.
Brock’s file shows that BSA allowed Brock to “resign” in exchange for BSA agreeing to not “investigate” by talking to the ten other boys or their parents. “The BSA agreed to keep parents of the molested boys in the dark to protect a credibly accused pedophile and its own reputation,” said Ms. Dumas. “Brock’s IV File is one of the worst in the country and the worst in Oregon,” said Ms. Dumas. “It is an example of how BSA used its IV File system to cover up knowledge of pedophiles in Scouting and put the organization’s brand before the safety of children.”
Even worse, Brock’s IV File shows that BSA had prior notice that Brock was a danger to children. The file notes that Brock had been “called to task” at least two times before for taking pictures of nude children, taking boys to his home, and showing them pictures of nude children and nude adults. Although BSA acknowledged that taking photos of nude kids “could not be condoned” by “Scouting’s leadership,” Scout leadership did condone Brock’s conduct by not kicking him out of Scouting when they first had notice of his nude photography and other bad acts.
Even after BSA forced Brock to resign, it engaged in a cover up of his sexual abuse of at least 12 boys in his troop. BSA allowed Brock to claim he had resigned because of high blood pressure. After he resigned, the Scout Executive of the local Council wrote to suggest that, “I can see no reason why he shouldn’t be recognized at the 50th anniversary celebration[.]” He thought this recognition “would help to ally questions about his retirement from the troop,” emphasizing that “the less it is discussed among adults and boys . . . the better it will be.” BSA condoned this plan, as this letter is part of Brock’s permanent IV File.
“It is hard to imagine the harm caused to those 12 boys and their families by the cover up of Brock’s crimes,” Ms. Dumas said. It is clear from Brock’s IV File that no one from BSA or CPC reported Brock’s crimes to the police or to the parents of the 12 boys identified as likely victims, including the mother of the men who filed lawsuits today.
Because Brock’s crimes were successfully covered up in 1968, Brock was able to molest and sexually exploit other boys. In 1971, he was indicted in Clackamas County for fondling an 11-year-old boy, and indicted on two counts in Jefferson County for fondling two ten-year-old boys. When Brock was arrested, police seized hundreds of photograph slides of nude boys and adults, and pornographic magazines and books, many featuring young boys. Brock pled guilty to one count in Clackamas County and one count in Jefferson County.
In 1965, the BSA had awarded Brock the Silver Beaver award, one of BSA’s most prestigious honors for Scout volunteers. The Scouts did nothing to rescind the award after he was accused of molesting 12 boys and kicked out of Scouts in 1968, or later when he was convicted of sexually molesting three children. Brock died in 2001. Brock’s IV File was profiled by Aimee Green of The Oregonian in 2012, when the IV Files were released to the public.
In the current lawsuit, Plaintiffs allege that Brock abused his position of trust and respect as a Scoutmaster to sexually abuse them. Brock frequently took the Scouts hiking, camping, and swimming in the summers. He encouraged R.D., R.S., and other Scouts to swim nude, took nude photographs of them, and fondled them while they were swimming. Brock frequently hosted Scouts at his house for troop meetings and sleepovers, where he encouraged the boys to hang out and sleep with him in the nude. He showed them slideshows of nude photographs of young boys and adults. During these sleepovers, Plaintiffs and their brothers suffered the worst abuse.
R.D. and R.S. make claims against BSA and CPC for fraud, negligence, and sexual battery. Their claims are for $9 million each in compensatory damages and they plan to add claims for punitive damages as soon as court rules allow. Both brothers agree that this case isn’t about the money. “This is about holding BSA accountable for not protecting us, our brothers, and other Scouts,” said R.S. “Until BSA makes all its IV Files public and we have real transparency on the history of abuse in the Boy Scouts, victims of Scout abuse will not have the justice they need,” said R.D., “And only way to get the attention of big organizations so they make those changes is with this kind of lawsuit.”
If these cases go to trial, it would be the first time the Boy Scouts face a jury on fraud claims. Plaintiffs’ theory is that, just like cigarette companies have been sued for creating a false impression of the safety of cigarettes through advertising, television, and other media, BSA created a false impression that Scouting was a safe and wholesome activity for boys – and that Scoutmasters were trustworthy, model citizens – through publications like Boys Life magazine and The Scout Handbook. At the same time, BSA failed to tell Scouts and their parents that BSA knew that pedophiles targeted the organization to abuse and molest boys.
Ms. Dumas and Ms. Vaughn have substantial experience representing adult victims of child abuse against large institutions that allowed the abuse, such as the Boy Scouts, the Catholic Church, and other religious and youth-serving organizations. They have represented clients across the United States and currently have cases filed in Oregon, Montana, and Idaho. In Idaho, they represent 20 men in a sexual abuse lawsuit against the LDS Church and BSA, claiming that the organizations committed fraud by not warning Scouts and their parents about the severe risk of being sexually abused by an adult Scout volunteers. In Montana, they represent six women who were raped and molested by the male leader of their co-ed Explorer Scout Post in the 1970s.
Ms. Dumas notes that Brock had many more victims, including the ten boys mentioned in his IV File, and that there are likely many more witnesses with information. “We want these witnesses and other survivors to know that if they come forward, they will be listened to, believed, and treated with respect.”
Anyone who has additional information about this matter is encouraged to contact attorneys Gilion C. Dumas or Ashley L. Vaughn at the following contact information:
Gilion C. Dumas 503-952-6789 gilion@dumaslawgroup.com
Ashley L. Vaughn 931-206-0090 ashley@dumaslawgroup.com