Boy Scouts Sued for Nuisance in Hawaii, Lawsuit Seeks Release of Secret Perversion Files

(Honolulu, HI) – A survivor sexually abused as a minor by his Scoutmaster in Hawaii has sued the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for the abuse. The survivor, identified in the lawsuit as John Roe 120 (see attached lawsuit), has also sued BSA for nuisance and is asking the court to order BSA to release all of its secret Perversion Files and discontinue its dangerous practices.

“By coming forward, this courageous survivor is taking back power that was stolen from him as a child by his Boy Scout leader,” said attorney Jeff Anderson of Jeff Anderson & Associates, who represents Roe 120 along with attorney Mark Gallagher of Kailua, Hawaii. “He is also holding the Boy Scouts accountable by seeking the public release of Perversion Files that the Boy Scouts have kept secret for decades at great peril to children and the public.”

To help the public find information about BSA perpetrators, Anderson’s firm has created and made available to the public scoutabusefiles.com (Chrome, Firefox, Safari recommended), a website for locating basic information and Perversion Files of known Boy Scout perpetrators in the United States. The website information is based on Perversion Files that have been publicly released by BSA pursuant to court orders to date. Anderson said the website will be updated as more Perversion files are made public—something Anderson; the Minnesota Attorney General; and survivors are actively seeking.

“We are excited about this website, which allows anyone to locate information on known Boy Scout perpetrators whose Perversion Files are public,” Anderson said. “We call on Boy Scouts of America to publicly release all of its Perversion files that it is holding in secret. And we encourage attorneys general and law enforcement agencies across the country take steps to ensure that all Perversion Files are released, as Attorney General Keith Ellison has done in Minnesota.”

Anderson is seeking the release of the 1,538 Perversion Files in the case of John Doe 180, who was sexually abused as a minor by Boy Scout leader Peter Stibal in Minnesota. John Doe 180’s lawsuit in Ramsey County (Minnesota) against Stibal, Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and related entities settled in 2014. The 1,538 Perversion Files were produced to John Doe 180 under seal, not to be released publicly. At a hearing in August, Anderson asked a Ramsey County District Court judge to order the public release of the 1,538 files. Attorney General Ellison then sought permission to file a memorandum supporting the release of the files and the judge granted Ellison’s motion. Attorney General Ellison has filed the memorandum. The matter is pending.

Anderson’s firm filed nine lawsuits on behalf of survivors against BSA and Greater New York Councils in New York on August 20. Those lawsuits, which are pending, included negligence claims made possible by New York’s Child Victims Act. One of the lawsuits brought a claim for nuisance seeking release of all Perversion Files. In April, Anderson’s firm filed a nuisance lawsuit on behalf of a survivor in New Jersey, also seeking release of all Perversion Files. That case is pending.

Anderson points to some stark statistics in support of the public release of all Boy Scout Perversion Files, including:

• The Perversion Files in the John Doe 180 case comprise approximately 1,538 cases of sexual misconduct by BSA and 48,000 pages of documents from the years 1999-2008. Since these files are recent, most of the perpetrators are likely still alive and may still be working with children.
• In January 2019, defense expert Dr. Janet Warren testified in a Hennepin County trial involving Children’s Theatre that she was hired by BSA to review all BSA Ineligible Volunteer files (which include Perversion Files) from 1944-2016. Her review revealed an astounding 7,819 Boy Scout sexual misconduct perpetrators and 12,254 victims from 1944-2016. It is unknown how many of the 7,819 perpetrators BSA has disclosed publicly.
• BSA has maintained Perversion Files since the 1920s. It is believed that BSA has made public only approximately 5,000 Perversion Files and that it is keeping secret thousands more. By doing so, BSA is putting kids at risk.