Judge Castro Allows Attorney General to Come Into Effort to Release Files Being Hidden by Boy Scouts
(St. Paul, MN) – A Minnesota court issued an Order granting the Minnesota Attorney General permission to file a memorandum supporting the release of more than 1,500 Boy Scout Perversion files.
Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro, noting that “The Attorney General is responsible for protecting the public interest and advocating in favor of the public good,” issued an Order allowing the Attorney General to file an amicus curiae memorandum supporting efforts in a Minnesota case seeking the public release of the Perversion Files. The Order is attached.
“The Attorney General’s amicus memorandum may provide the Court with valuable information about the public welfare implications of the issue before the Court,” Judge Castro stated in his August 23, 2019, Order Granting Amicus Curiae.
At a hearing before Judge Castro on August 6, 2019 in St. Paul, the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates, representing a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by a Boy Scout leader, sought the public release of 1,538 secret Boy Scouts files on leaders with allegations of sexual misconduct against children. The survivor was identified in the case as John Doe 180. Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has refused to make public the perpetrator names and documents contained in these files, known as Perversion Files.
On August 20, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a motion asking Judge Castro to allow his office to file an amicus brief supporting the release of the Perversion Files, stating that the request that the court publicly release the files in the John Doe 180 case “involves an important issue affecting the safety and welfare of children across Minnesota.”
“We applaud Judge Castro’s decision to allow the Attorney General to support the release of these files,”
said Attorney Jeff Anderson of Jeff Anderson & Associates. “Attorney General Keith Ellison is exhibiting strong leadership in public safety and child protection enforcement with his efforts here. We ask that attorneys general and law enforcement in all 50 states do the same and take all necessary steps to ensure that secret files protecting perpetrators are released.”
Anderson’s firm 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. John Doe 180’s lawsuit in Ramsey County against Stibal, 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. Anderson has asked Judge Castro to order the public release of the files. Anderson’s request 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 The Children’s Theatre Company 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.
- In 2012, BSA was forced to disclose more than 1,200 of its Perversion Files from the years 1965-1985 as part of a lawsuit brought by a survivor in Oregon.
- 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.
Anderson filed nine sexual abuse lawsuits against BSA last week in New York seeking release of all BSA Perversion files, including one case on behalf of a Minnesota resident.
“The hazard the Boy Scouts created and maintained for decades requires significant and meaningful action,” Anderson said. “I ask that attorneys general and law enforcement everywhere open investigations, appoint grand juries and do all that is within their power to expose this very real and present harm facing children across the nation.”