Oregon jury to start deliberating case that seeks $29 million from Boy Scouts for sex abuse

Oregon jury gets Boy Scouts sex abuse case

PORTLAND, Ore. — A $29 million sex abuse lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America is in the hands of a jury after a lawyer for the victim closed the case by arguing the Scouts failed to act when they knew they had a serious problem.

In closing arguments, Kelly Clark said the organization had been keeping a list of Scout leaders and volunteers suspected of abuse since the 1920s but never came up with any system to improve screening, reporting or prevention.

Clark compared it to food poisoning, arguing that if Scouts were getting sick on a regular basis, something would have been done to prevent it.

But a lawyer for the Scouts, Chuck Smith, told the jury the organization relied on local Scout leaders and volunteers to take action because they were supervising the boys — not the national organization.

Smith said the standard of care expected for dealing with abuse has changed over the years but the Scouts were no different than other organizations at the time.

He also said the Scouts rely heavily on parents “as the first line of defense” against abuse.

Clark, however, said parents were typically not informed about suspected abuse that the Scouts tried to keep private.

He referred to six boxes of files stacked in the courtroom that became known during the three-week trial as the “perversion files” because they document suspected abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers.

But he said the existence of those files was mostly unknown to local Scout leaders or parents.

Clark invited jurors to examine the files during their deliberations, telling them he believes they will be the first jury in the country to look through the documents and see for themselves the extent of the sex abuse problem in the Boy Scouts.

The files requested for the trial cover 1965 through mid-1984, a period that includes the abuse of the Portland man who filed the lawsuit.

But Clark told the jury the Scouts have files stretching back over nearly a century, and that alone should have told them they had a serious problem that needed to be addressed more effectively.

The jury was expected to begin deliberations Friday after being excused Thursday following closing arguments.