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Decades of confidential sexual abuse allegations from within the Boy Scouts of America will spill into public view later today when more than 1,200 of the organization’s “perversion files” are released by order of the Oregon Supreme Court. The files will offer the public an unprecedented look at how suspected molestations were handled by one of the nation’s leading youth organizations from the early 1960s through 1985, a time when awareness of sexual abuse was evolving rapidly. ~snip~ The abuse reports to be released today played a key role as evidence in a landmark Oregon lawsuit in 2010 that resulted...

United Way of Greater Cleveland moves to pull funding in 2013 for Boy Scouts over group's prohibition of gay members CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Officials with United Way of Greater Cleveland announced Tuesday they are moving to pull their funding next year from the Boy Scouts of America after the group recently reaffirmed its prohibition of openly gay youth and adults. At issue is nearly $100,000 that goes to the Boy Scouts of America Greater Cleveland Council for Scoutreach, a program that brings scouting to about 1,600 inner-city youth with an eye on physical fitness and citizenship. United Way is just...

Secret files kept by the Boy Scouts of America reveal the organization's leaders may have helped hundreds of suspected child molesters "cover their tracks" by often hiding the allegations from parents, the public and police, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation. Documents obtained by the newspaper detail a paper trail of abuse where volunteers and staff were sometimes allowed to quietly resign to spare their reputation and that of the Scouts. "We are making no accusations and will not release this information to anyone, so our action in no way will affect your standing in the community," stated a...

A nine-year-old Cub Scout has quit over the Boy Scouts of America’s policy which does not allow any gay member, volunteer or staff member. Christopher Tiner, of Minot, Maine, had seen in the news that many Eagle Scouts had returned their badges in protest against the exclusion of gay members, volunteers and staff by the Boy Scouts of America. Scott Tiner, Christopher’s father, said that the Cub Scout made the decision entirely on his own. Christopher reflected on his position: “I didn’t like it that they were kicking people out,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair.” Christopher, formerly of...

The local Girl Scouts council paid for a sign-language interpreter to attend Megan's Girl Scout meetings, a camping trip and other outings. But a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday on the 12-year-old's behalf alleged that the Girl Scouts abruptly disbanded Megan's Schaumburg troop early this year in retaliation for her mother's efforts to keep the 100-year-old organization paying for the interpreter. ....Megan, who has been deaf since birth, joined the Girl Scouts in kindergarten, her mother said. At the time, her mother requested that an interpreter be present at Scouting activities, and the Girl Scouts agreed to that, she said. But...

SALT LAKE CITY — A former Boy Scout leader and hospital employee will go to prison for collecting and making child pornography. Third District Judge Robin Reese on Monday sentenced Shawn Thomas Whiting, 34, to a one- to-15-year prison term on four second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Whiting pleaded guilty to the charges in April. He originally faced a total of 20 counts of the same charge, but the 16 additional counts were dismissed in exchange for the man's plea. Reese ordered the man to pay for the cost of counseling for his victims. The Utah...

Once again CNN is cheerleading the fight for gay rights, this time within the Boy Scouts. An effusive Starting Point panel welcomed gay activist Zach Wahls on Wednesday and celebrated his cause of pushing the Boy Scouts towards acceptance of openly-gay scouts and leaders. Wahls is no stranger to CNN, as back in May he was lauded as a "very powerful" activist during a soft interview. On Wednesday, the CNN panel oozed admiration for him. "I'm a big fan. I've followed you for a little while," Starting Point regular Margaret Hoover told him. "You're a wonderful spokesman for the effort...

LGBT advocacy groups are continuing to pressure Boy Scouts of America, which applies a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on sexual orientation of its youth members and its adult leaders. This morning, a press release from change.org landed in our in-box announcing that Jennifer Tyrrell, a gay mom who was removed as a den leader by the Boy Scouts of America, will deliver 300,000 petition signatures to the Boy Scouts of America’s national headquarters. The petition calls on the Scouts to reinstate her and end their policy prohibiting gay scouts and scout leaders. Deron Smith, a Boy Scout spokesman, said...

As support for gay mom and former Boy Scout troop leader Jennifer Tyrrell contines to pour in from across America, it's important to reflect on those who have been saying all along that moms like Jen should be allowed in the Boy Scouts. Including Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who said in a 1994 debate: “I believe that the Boy Scouts of America does a wonderful service for this country. I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate...

Sometimes even the Washington Post gets it right. Last week the pastor of St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Chantilly, Virginia, made national news. He banned the Girl Scouts from his parish because of the Girl Scouts’ connections to pro-abortion groups, including the international scouting group, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).A Washington Post writer, who called the parish decision “extreme,” rode to the Scouts’ defense, arguing that the “Girl Scouts say explicitly, repeatedly, at the neighborhood, regional and national level, that they have no stance on birth control or abortion.”Now that’s not the part the Post...

When Girl Scout cookie season starts up in your neighborhood, those earnest young saleswomen bearing boxes of sweets may be armed with a new secret weapon: a mobile credit-card reader attached to their smartphones. That's right people. The Girl Scouts have firmly entered the digital age, and our waistlines may never recover. Think of the implications: Before, if you saw a tempting table laden with Samoas and Thin Mints outside the grocery store, being low on cash could prevent you from buying a box or two, or five, or 10. Not anymore.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI—Scott Allan Herrick, 40, of Twin Lakes, Michigan, was sentenced to serve 95 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. Herrick surreptitiously videotaped boys as they were dressing in the boys’ locker room in the YMCA in Muskegon and kept a massive collection of 100,000 images of child pornography with him at the Gerber Boy Scout Camp in Twin Lakes, Michigan. He was convicted at trial of three counts of attempting to produce child pornography. On the first day of trial, Herrick pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of...

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Boy Scouts have labored for decades to curtail sexual abuse of scouts by adult volunteers. But when their name was evoked in a lawsuit linked to the Penn State abuse scandal, the reference was not to problems - it was acknowledgment that the Scouts' current prevention policies are considered state of the art. While the local youth charity in the Penn State case has been accused of lax policies, experts in abuse prevention say most of the national organizations serving young people - such as the Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the...

GRAND RAPIDS -- Former Massachusetts governor and Michigan native Mitt Romney said Thursday night it "breaks my heart to see this state having so much difficulty in so many places." Romney, speaking to hundreds at the Boy Scouts of America Gerald R. Ford Council's Building Character Celebration Dinner, said he has a better idea for leadership. "I'm convinced that if Boy Scouts were running things here in Michigan, you'd be a lot better off," Romney said to hefty applause at DeVos Place, 303 Monroe Ave. NW.

A seven-year-old boy who identifies as a girl has been allowed to join the Girl Scouts in the US, despite the group initially barring him for having "boy parts". Bobby Montoya, from Denver in Colorado, dresses and behaves like a girl and wanted to join Girl Scouts like his older sister. His mother, Felisha Archuleta, told Denver's 9NEWS how she took her son to register but was told he could not join. "I said: 'Well, what's the big deal?' She said: 'It doesn't matter how he looks, he has boy parts, he can't be in Girl Scouts'," Ms Archuleta said....

A young boy named Bobby Montoya, who could very well be transgender, was rejected by the Girl Scouts because he has "boy parts HuffPo reports that Bobby prefers to wear "girl clothes" and play with "girl toys" and recently he wanted to join the Girl Scouts. However, when he and his mother went to their local troop leader, he was turned away. Fox News has said that the Girl Scouts Of Colorado have since admitted a mistake was made. Apparently the worker who turned Montoya away was unfamiliar with the group's policies regarding transgender kids, and he is now welcome...

DALLAS, March 4, 2011 – Recalling his own experience as an Eagle Scout, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates last night praised scouting for instilling principles, integrity and honor in tomorrow’s leaders. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates thanks former President George W. Bush after he is introduced during the Circle Ten Council Friends of Scouting dinner in Dallas, March 3, 2011. Gates, a former Eagle Scout, gave a keynote speech. DOD photo by Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates was the keynote speaker at a Circle Ten Council Friends of Scouting dinner here. The secretary told...

"On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, and to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."These are the words of the Boy Scout oath. Recited at scout meetings across the nation, every week for the past 100 years, this is an important moment when boys aged 10 to 13 raise their right hands and promise to serve both God and country. I was a scout myself and believe that the Boy Scouts is the only...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In shopping around for a Cub Scout program for their two sons, ages 6 and 8, Jeremy and Jodi Stokes decided on the one at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, N.C. The Stokeses, also of Matthews, weren't members of the evangelical megachurch, but they had many friends who were. And unlike the Cub Scout pack at their own church, which doesn't have a program for 6-year-old Tiger Scouts, Christ Covenant's was big enough to accommodate both of their boys. The couple even signed up to be Scout leaders when they discovered the church needed adult help. And...

Philmont fosters 'a Zion experience' Leaders trained for nearly 50 years at encampment By Jason SwensenChurch News staff writer Published: Saturday, July 10, 2010   For almost half a century, priesthood leaders and their families have traveled from all corners of the United States (and sometimes Canada) to gather for a week or two each summer at a pristine encampment in northeastern New Mexico known as Philmont.   There they find gospel learning, new friendships, outdoor adventure and, in the words of countless LDS Philmonters, "a Zion experience."Again this year, hundreds of stake presidents, counselors from stake presidencies and...