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MOOSIC — The Boy Scouts of America are saying they’re doing everything they can to keep children safe and prevent abuse in their organization.
This comes after a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia court earlier this week points to a local former scoutmaster as the perpetrator of years of sexual abuse, while additionally claiming the organization covered it up.
Meanwhile, the scout executive and CEO of scouting locally maintains that the Boy Scouts of America are currently one of the safest organizations in the country.
The suit, filed by a Luzerne County man identified only as “S.D.” therein, claims S.D. was molested for years in the 1970s by a Plains Township former scout leader named Paul Antosh.
S.D.’s case is likely to be one of hundreds, after more than 800 men came forward since February claiming to be victims of pedophilia. They swell of accusers came after the creation of a group called Abused in Scouting.
The official response from the Boy Scouts of America says the organization is working to pave the way forward for those who are claiming to be victims.
“We care deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting,” began a release from the organization. “We believe victims, we support them, we pay for counseling by a provider of their choice, and we encourage them to come forward.”
So far, the Boy Scouts of America claim they have forwarded approximately 120 of the accusations of abuse to the lead law enforcement agency in the applicable states, along with local law enforcement “for all the cases in which enough information was provided to identify the correct agency.”
BSA says some of the law enforcement agencies have come back to them, asking for more information, but BSA claims to have passed along all information they have. They say they have directed law enforcement agencies to contact Abused in Scouting, but say that some of the agencies have indicated they have been unable to contact the group.
Mark Barbernitz, scout executive and CEO of the Northeastern PA Council of the Boy Scouts of America, says he can’t confirm if any local law enforcement agencies have been contacted with regards to any of the abuse claims.
He also says he does not know anything specifically relevant to S.D.’s case, based on how long ago the case happened. He did point out, though, that one of the organizations named as a defendant in the case doesn’t technically exist any longer. The Penn Mountains Council of the Boy Scouts, formerly based in Kingston which would have been the chapter under which Antosh worked, was actually dissolved along with another chapter to form the regional Northeastern PA Council back in 1990.
Barbernitz did say, though, that he believes the BSA now has systems in place to prevent situations like this from happening, saying that 100% of staff are now trained in youth protection, and there are various measures in place to prevent abuse, including barring scoutmasters from having one-on-one contact with children; all situations must have more than two people present.
“Our program is used by other organizations, because it’s so effective,” he said. “It’s very, very effective, as long as it’s followed. The only way something can happen is if someone doesn’t follow the rules, and that’s very, very rare.”
It’s unclear if any criminal charges will be coming either locally or around the commonwealth; the suit filed on behalf of S.D. suggested BSA covered up abuse for decades on a scale comparable to that of the Roman Catholic Church, but attempts to reach the state Attorney General’s Office for comment on if Attorney General Josh Shapiro plans a grand jury investigation into the BSA similar to a previous one into Catholic dioceses were not successful Thursday.