Michael
May 31st 2010, 03:08 PM
Jury awards former Boy Scout $1.4 million in sexual abuse trial
A Multnomah County Circuit Court jury found this morning that the Boy Scouts were negligent and awarded non-economic damages of $1.4 million to a man who was sexually abused as a Scout in the 1980s.
Punitive damages will be determined in a second phase of the trial.
Nine out of the 12 jurors found Boy Scouts of America and its local body, the Portland-based Cascade Pacific Council, negligent in the lawsuit brought by plaintiff Kerry Lewis, who is now 38.
The Boy Scouts of America said in a statement on its Web site that it plans to appeal the verdict. ""We are gravely disappointed with the verdict. We believe that the allegations made against our youth protection efforts are not valid... We are saddened by what happened to the plaintiff. The actions of the man who committed these crimes do not represent the values and ideals of the Boy Scouts of America."
The jury found that the Boy Scouts of America was liable for 60 percent of the negligence and the Cascade Pacific Council was responsible for 15 percent. Together they will have to pay Lewis $1.05 million.
The jury determined that the remaining 25 percent -- $350,000 -- is the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which had coordinated Lewis' Scout program in Southeast Portland. But the church will not have to pay its share of the $1.4 million verdict because it settled with Lewis last year for an undisclosed amount.
The plaintiff's attorneys had asked for $4 million in non-economic damages, which cover pain and suffering that Lewis has endured due to the sexual abuse. The jury will reconvene next Tuesday for the punitive-damages portion of the trial, in which the plaintiff's attorneys are asking for as much as $25 million in damages.
Moments after the verdict was read, Lewis hugged his mother as they both teared up and sighed heavily. The trial is now in its fifth week.
The attorneys for the Boy Scouts and Cascade Pacific Council declined to comment, citing several other lawsuits filed by men who say they were abused by Assistant Scoutmaster Timur Dykes.
Source (http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/04/jury_returns_verdict_in_boy_sc.html)
The similarity between this case and early Catholic Church cases is eerie. If you read the article, the jurors seem rather put off by the Scout Organization's denial of a systemic problem, even though there is proof the Scouts have been keeping "special files" on this issue going back to 1925.
Many commentators have suggested that this is the case that will burst the damn for the Boy Scouts and cause a flood of copy-cat lawsuits from other abused ex-Scouts.
As it has turned out, the Boy Scouts of America has been dealing with this issue in the exactly the same way as the Catholic Church has - with official denials, payoffs to victims, protections for perpetrators and media gag-orders.
It all works until you lose one court case - then the floodgates open up! Just ask the Catholic Church about that.
I suppose one is moved to inquire here, what is it about these massive religious organizations and the sexual abuse of minors? Seems like religious organizations and covering up sexual abuse seems to go hand-in-hand. :shrug:
Make no doubt about it, the Boy Scouts of America are a religious organization first and foremost, and always have been. Religion is the defining purpose of that organization from the day it was created.
A Multnomah County Circuit Court jury found this morning that the Boy Scouts were negligent and awarded non-economic damages of $1.4 million to a man who was sexually abused as a Scout in the 1980s.
Punitive damages will be determined in a second phase of the trial.
Nine out of the 12 jurors found Boy Scouts of America and its local body, the Portland-based Cascade Pacific Council, negligent in the lawsuit brought by plaintiff Kerry Lewis, who is now 38.
The Boy Scouts of America said in a statement on its Web site that it plans to appeal the verdict. ""We are gravely disappointed with the verdict. We believe that the allegations made against our youth protection efforts are not valid... We are saddened by what happened to the plaintiff. The actions of the man who committed these crimes do not represent the values and ideals of the Boy Scouts of America."
The jury found that the Boy Scouts of America was liable for 60 percent of the negligence and the Cascade Pacific Council was responsible for 15 percent. Together they will have to pay Lewis $1.05 million.
The jury determined that the remaining 25 percent -- $350,000 -- is the responsibility of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which had coordinated Lewis' Scout program in Southeast Portland. But the church will not have to pay its share of the $1.4 million verdict because it settled with Lewis last year for an undisclosed amount.
The plaintiff's attorneys had asked for $4 million in non-economic damages, which cover pain and suffering that Lewis has endured due to the sexual abuse. The jury will reconvene next Tuesday for the punitive-damages portion of the trial, in which the plaintiff's attorneys are asking for as much as $25 million in damages.
Moments after the verdict was read, Lewis hugged his mother as they both teared up and sighed heavily. The trial is now in its fifth week.
The attorneys for the Boy Scouts and Cascade Pacific Council declined to comment, citing several other lawsuits filed by men who say they were abused by Assistant Scoutmaster Timur Dykes.
Source (http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/04/jury_returns_verdict_in_boy_sc.html)
The similarity between this case and early Catholic Church cases is eerie. If you read the article, the jurors seem rather put off by the Scout Organization's denial of a systemic problem, even though there is proof the Scouts have been keeping "special files" on this issue going back to 1925.
Many commentators have suggested that this is the case that will burst the damn for the Boy Scouts and cause a flood of copy-cat lawsuits from other abused ex-Scouts.
As it has turned out, the Boy Scouts of America has been dealing with this issue in the exactly the same way as the Catholic Church has - with official denials, payoffs to victims, protections for perpetrators and media gag-orders.
It all works until you lose one court case - then the floodgates open up! Just ask the Catholic Church about that.
I suppose one is moved to inquire here, what is it about these massive religious organizations and the sexual abuse of minors? Seems like religious organizations and covering up sexual abuse seems to go hand-in-hand. :shrug:
Make no doubt about it, the Boy Scouts of America are a religious organization first and foremost, and always have been. Religion is the defining purpose of that organization from the day it was created.