New Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Filed Today Against Boy Scouts of America Under Child Victims Act
St. Paul Scout Leader and Serial Offender Donald Keys Accused of Molesting Scout in 1969-70
(St. Paul, MN) – A civil lawsuit was filed today by a man who was sexually abused as a minor by Scout Leader Donald Leonard Keys in approximately 1969-70. The suit names Keys, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and Northern Star Council, f/k/a Indianhead Council as defendants. Plaintiff Doe 71 brought his lawsuit under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which gives child sexual abuse victims until May 25, 2016, to file civil lawsuits.
Doe 71 was approximately 11-12 years old, and a member of Troop 18 in St. Paul, when Keys molested him multiple times. Keys, now 70, was an assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 18 when he sexually abused Doe 71. The lawsuit alleges sexual battery against Keys, and negligence against BSA and Northern Star Council.
“We admire Doe 71’s courage in coming forward, taking back his power and seeking accountability for the horrendous harm done to him,” said Jeff Anderson, attorney for Doe 71. “Keys is a serial offender who was left unchecked to abuse Doe 71 and other boys. Today, Doe 71 is stepping up and speaking out to help put an end to that tragic practice.”
For decades prior to Doe 71’s abuse by Keys, BSA maintained hundreds of secret Ineligible Volunteer (IV) files, also known as Perversion Files, about sexually abusive adult leaders it removed from Scouting. As a result, BSA had many years’ worth of information and knowledge about pedophiles infiltrating Scouting to access and abuse young boys prior to Keys’ employment with BSA. BSA concealed the IV files from the public and did not alert Scouts, parents or the community about abusive adult volunteers it removed from Scouting due to sexual abuse of boys.
Keys was arrested in July 1970 for kidnapping another boy in St. Paul and attempting to sodomize him. Keys pleaded guilty to attempted sodomy in that case and was sentenced to a year in jail. BSA placed Keys in its IV files as a result of that conviction. Keys admitted to similar abuse with yet another boy in June 1970. In 2004, Keys was convicted of producing and possessing child pornography in Minnesota and sentenced to federal prison. He is incarcerated until 2018 in federal prison in Texarkana, Texas, for those convictions.
Donald Keys’ IV file is attached and available on our website at www.andersonadvocates.com.