A jury in Portland, Oregon, awarded a former Boy Scout $1.4 million in a sex-abuse case. It found the organization negligent, allowing Scout leader Timur Dykes, a sex offender, to have contact with him in the 80s.
The three-week trial ended yesterday, and the jury awarded the plaintiff punitive damages as well. The punitive phase will begin on Tuesday.
Kelly Clark, an attorney for the six men suing the organization, would not comment on the victory. His clients were Boy Scouts during the 80s, and troop leaders were allegedly aware that one of the boys was sexually abused by Dykes.
Although the decision was made to remove Dykes as a troop leader, the sexual abuse continued when the organization permitted him to continue contact with the boys as a volunteer. Clark showed jurors documents that "were part of an archive of previously secret Boy Scout files that chronicled decades of abuse of boys."
The Boy Scouts organization will appeal the jury's decision. "We are gravely disappointed with the verdict," read a written statement. "We believe that the allegations made against our youth protection efforts are not valid. We are saddened by what happened to the plaintiff. The actions of the man who committed these crimes do not represent the values and ideals of the Boy Scouts of America."
The jury found the Boy Scouts of America 60% negligent; the Cascade Pacific Council, an organization that oversees troops in the area, 15% negligent; and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 25% negligent. The Church sponsors many scout troops including the one involved in this lawsuit.
The LDS Church settled the case a year ago outside of court. Steve English, an attorney for the Church, commented on Tuesday's verdict, saying it doesn't impact his client. "The church absolutely condemns any kind of child abuse," he said. "Because of the way the law is set up in Oregon, we thought it made sense both to help the victim and also to get this behind the victim and us to settle this case."
Watch Circuit Court Judge John A. Wittmayer in the video below.
Source: CNN News
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Comments
Isn't this really a story about the abuse, and that the LDS church is a minority part of it? Oh wait, let's get people riled up. Thats what news is really about.
This is definitely not a mis-titled story. The jury found the church negligent, people should be riled up. This is a landmark case and a travesty!
I agree with Sherri. This article is titled appropriately. The jury found the LDS Church partially responsible for the sexual abuse. Whoever made the mistitled article comment is an idiot.
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