Besides not reporting allegations of abuse to law enforcement agencies, some of the files show the Boy Scouts offered men the opportunity to craft resignation letters with different reasons for leaving the organization.
In July, 1976 a Kansas City father reported an incident to Scouting officials. According to his statement, a 21-year-old scoutmaster had asked his son to mow the lawn and then invited him to spend the night.
After going to bed, the statement says the man asked the 14-year-old to commit an “act of sodomy.” The boy refused and the man backed off.
“(He) stayed awake all night because he was afraid to go back to sleep,” the account said.
According to an internal memo, other allegations about the scoutmaster had surfaced in previous years. However, Scouting leaders did not know the boys who had possibly been molested.
The man quickly turned in his resignation letter to the troop.
“This is due to excessive workloads at my place of employment and time needed for educational training,” the letter said.
41 Action News also found files where the BSA kept information from employers of accused molesters, even if that job involved working with kids.
During an overnight trip in 1984, a handwritten letter from a Scout said he awoke in his top bunk to a 46-year-old leader performing oral sex.
“I did not do anything because it was just him and me and I did not know how to react,” the boy wrote. “This is a true statement, so help me God.”
The Scout leader, an employee with the State of Missouri’s Division of Family Services, had his registration suspended in January, 1984. However, for an unknown reason, the status was “probationary” instead of the permanent expulsion typically seen with most people removed from the organization.
“Thank you for discussing my situation in such a caring manner,” the married man wrote to a Scout executive. “It would appear that no immediate change will be made in my involvement with Catholic youth programs.”
The file does not indicate if the man ever reentered Scouting in Missouri. Records show he died in Kansas City earlier this year.
