Posted on 12/03/2009 6:40:22 PM PST by Colofornian
San Francisco » The Mormon church and Boy Scouts of America were named as defendants in lawsuits Monday claiming childhood sexual abuse by youth leaders decades ago.
Alleged victims filed suits against both organizations in San Francisco and Seattle, and against the church alone in Portland, Ore.
The plaintiffs are all represented by Portland attorney Kelly Clark, who has brought similar suits against the church and the Boy Scouts in the past.
In the suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, three brothers claim the church ignored their complaints about being molested by their Silicon Valley Boy Scout and Mormon youth leader in the 1970s and 1980s.
"These are men who believe in the best of these institutions and believe that this kind of lawsuit can help improve these institutions and prevent child abuse," Clark said. "This is not a lawsuit they brought lightly, but it is one they intend to see through."
The plaintiffs, identified only as John Does, claim they were molested hundreds of times by 65-year-old William Eugene Knox, who married their mother while the abuse was taking place in Sunnyvale, Calif.
A law firm in Canton, Ga., contacted by The Associated Press said it was no longer representing Knox, a Georgia resident. His phone number could not be located.
Clark said the suit was filed weeks ago, but the defendants were only named Monday after a San Francisco judge certified evidence allowing them to be identified publicly. He said a jury would determine the specific amount of any possible damages.
One of the plaintiffs was still a devout member of the church, and two have served as scoutmasters. Clark said one was a former FBI agent.
San Jose attorney Allen Ruby, representing the church in Northern California, said he was not aware of a case in which courts have found a church liable for abuse committed by a family member.
"The allegations in this case are the plaintiffs were abused by their stepfather," Ruby said. The church will defend itself against the suit, he said.
Kent Downing, chief executive of the Boy Scouts' Pacific Skyline Council, said he could not comment because he had not seen the lawsuit.
In the Seattle case, a man now in his early 40s claims he and other boys were abused in the late 1970s by Dustin Hall, an assistant scoutmaster chosen by the church's Shelton Ward near Olympia.
The plaintiff said in a statement released through his lawyer that the abuse -- and his failure to protect the others -- haunts him.
Hall could not immediately be reached for comment. It was not clear if he still lives in the area or whether he has an attorney. The Pacific Harbors Council of the Boy Scouts did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Chuck Gordon, a Seattle-based lawyer for the church, said it would investigate the complaint and act accordingly.
"While we do sympathize with all victims of abuse, the church will defend itself against any accusation it deems to be false," Gordon said.
The lawsuit filed in Portland on behalf of a man who is now 46 claims a Mormon youth leader abused him between 1974 and 1977. The suit claims the abuse was reported to a church bishop but never communicated to law enforcement.
A lawyer for the church, Steve English, said the church "absolutely and unequivocally" condemns sex abuse and will investigate.
The lawsuit identified the youth leader as Michael Simms and seeks nearly $5 million in damages. Efforts to locate Simms were not successful.
Clark said the plaintiffs were filing civil lawsuits in part because the statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges had expired.
From the article: In the suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, three brothers claim the church ignored their complaints about being molested by their Silicon Valley Boy Scout and Mormon youth leader in the 1970s and 1980s...One of the plaintiffs was still a devout member of the church, and two have served as scoutmasters.
From the article:
The lawsuit filed in Portland on behalf of a man who is now 46 claims a Mormon youth leader abused him between 1974 and 1977. The suit claims the abuse was reported to a church bishop but never communicated to law enforcement.
What did we Mormons ever do to you to get you so full of angst and anger?
I’m curious as to what the basis is for suing the Boy Scouts of America. The BSA does not select unit leaders nor does it supervise them.
Gays attacking boys - no surprise.
It is why most of us in the Boy scouts do not want gay leaders - to keep them from access to our sons.
The 1st amendment does give us freedom of assembly - we are allowed to pick our friends and whom we associate with.
Course any father in San Fran leaving their son with anyone should be child abuse.
(Hey, 'twasn't me who filed these lawsuits. Ask the victims of these Lds scoutmasters & those who may have protected them after-the-fact)
Regarding the article:
there is no excuse for this type of behavior. May justice be served.
Regarding Colofornian:
A quick review of your posts and it is obvious Mormonism is your Moby-Dick. Don’t let it consume you Ahab.
These suits tend to focus on two areas: What preventive care was taken to screen leaders? (That's only been happening more thoroughly over the past 10-20 years among groups & churches working with youth)
Secondly, what knowledge did BSA have "after-the-fact" -- and what, if any, action was taken accordingly.
Hey queers you lost prop. 8 too. At last count you queers are 0 for 31. Doesn't that tell you something? Get back into the closets you pedophiles.
It will be interesting to see how this one ends up. Seems like the allegations would be hard to prove and it would be difficult to convict the abuser after all these years.
Isn’t there a statue of limitations on these kinds of frivolous suits? Realistically, how can one subpoena testimony from someone about something that happened 40 years ago? How reliable will any of that testimony be?
Playing devils advocate here.
How the heck would anyone be able to prove their innocences some 30 years later? Imagine that you are now 60 years old and someone said you raped them 30 years ago. How can even possibly prove that you didn’t do it? Heck, I would have to look up where I was 30 days ago.
perverts in the ministry or Boy Scouts?....I 'm sure there is....I want them thrown in jail after a trial...
what I hate is whenever there is even an accusation, that it becomes true.....no proof...no cross examination...just..."lets get this over and pay the bastards off" crap......
how many people are coming up with this stuff so conveniently....
Up until a few years ago if you asked the BSA what it did to screen leaders the answer was “That’s the responsibility of the sponsoring institution. They are in charge of selecting leaders. We have no input to that.” A few years ago the BSA entered into a contract with some organization whose name I forget and now every adult applicant must provide their SSN. Their information is run by this company through all 50 states’ databases to see if you have any felony convictions, any convictions regarding things like drugs, DUI or child molestation, or any protection orders entered against you. But the BSA still does not and cannot supervise your activities. That, and the discovery and investigation of any factors that won’t show up the above categories, is still the repsponsibility of the sponsoring institution.
Now, if any abuse allegations were forwarded to the Council office they are bound to call the cops. No, they do not investigate - that’s the cops’ job. If such allegations were forwarded to the Council and they did not act in that fashion then I’d agree that they were liable. Otherwise I don’t see any way that the BSA could have any responsibility for this.
WOW!
They must have grown some balls since the 1890's; when they rolled over like a whipped puppy and gave up GOD's Etermanl Covenant of POLYGAMY because they were AFRAID of what the GOVERNMENT would do to them!
What did we Mormons ever do to you to get you so full of angst and anger?
And yet the GSA allows LESBIANS to be leaders for the girls!
Get your girls OUT of there!!
http://www.gsaforsafeschools.org/
I have lived here in the South for many, many years and have seen all sorts of child/spousal abuse by true Christians. I have seen born again ministers who have sexually abused little girls and little boys. I have seen saved ministers who robbed their flocks of tens of thousands of dollars. I have seen true Christians in the education system who have ab abused their students and then afterwards, their professed their love for Christ and that they were already forgiven because they were saved.
I don’t post these facts and I also don’t see you nor any of you anti-Mormons posting those facts.
People like you say you have to get the “facts” out about the Mormon church so they know how evil the Mormon church is, yet you don’t say word one about the true Christians doing the very same damn thing and when it is pointed out that there is such vileness practiced by true Christians, they scream and yell about how evil the Mormon church is. People like you are so ready to help the Mormons clean up their organization, but you shut your eyes and shut your mouth about your own organization.
Why don’t you clean up your own house before telling other what to do?
The reason I get SO defensive is your unadulterated hypocrisy, you white washed sepulchre.
Oh, lest I forget, Merry Christmas.
Also, read what some top notch Evangelical scholars had to say about what your MO and how much good it is, or, how bad it is.
Mormon scholarship, apologetics, and evangelical neglect: Losing the battle and not knowing it?
Too many evangelicals accept and propagate certain myths about Mormon scholarship. It is a myth that there are few, if any, traditional Mormon scholars with training in fields pertinent to evangelical-Mormon debates. It is a myth that when Mormons receive training in historiography, biblical languages, theology, and philosophy they invariably abandon traditional Latter-day Saints (LDS) beliefs in the historicity of the Book of Mormon and the prophethood of Joseph Smith. It is a myth that liberal Mormons have so shaken the foundations of LDS belief that Mormonism is crumbling apart. It is a myth that neoorthodox Mormons have influenced the theology of their church to such a degree that it will soon abandon traditional emphases and follow a path similar to the RLDS (Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) or the World-Wide Church of God. These are myths based upon ignorance and selective reading. Evangelicals who wish to be responsible must abandon them.
--snip--
The evangelical world needs to wake up and respond to contemporary Mormon scholarship. If not, we will needlessy lose the battle without ever knowing it. Our suggestions are as follows: First, evangelicals need to overcome inaccurate presuppositions about Mormonism. Second, evangelical counter-cultists need to refer to qualified persons LDS scholarship that is beyond their ability to rebut. Third, evangelical academicians need to make Mormonism, or some aspects of it, an area of professional interest. Fourth, evangelical publishers need to cease publishing works that are uninformed, misleading, or otherwise inadequate. Fifth, scholars in the evangelical community ought to collaborate in several books addressing the issues raised in this paper. Related to this, professional journals should encourage articles on these same topics. Finally, might we suggest that evangelical scholarly societies form study groups to assess the claims made by LDS scholars. Members of the Evangelical Theological Society have made a move in this direction with the recent formation of the Society for the Study of Alternative Religions (SSAR). The fact is that the growth of Mormonism is outpacing even the highest predictions of professional sociologists of religion, and is on its way, within eighty years, to becoming the first world-religion since Islam in the seventh century. With such growth, the needs expressed in this paper will become ever more pressing as the twenty-first century approaches.
Many antagonists of the Church have repeatedly told me to "wake up and smell the coffee" thinking they were being ever so witty and cutesy, but, in spite of the worst efforts, I have never felt the spirit of the Lord with anybody who sought to destroy my faith, and elsie, I don't feel his spirit or his truth in any of your posts, only angry and bitter emotions.
Please answer me one question: Why would I want to listen to you and those who practice this same type of denigrating love that has been rendered worthless and impotent?
Hello!
I've printed out LDS writings.
What about THEM are defendable?
WWJD?
He'd say, ....
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