Boy Scouts sued by parents of molested kids

The parents of two scouts who were molested in 2014 by an assistant troop leader have sued the organization after learning the same leader had a prior complaint two years earlier that the troop leadership stonewalled or failed to follow up on.

Quote:

When she complained, a den mother assured her that “Mr. Kelsey’s behavior was a serious issue and Troop 95 would investigate.” But a short time later, the mom told NBC News, she got a call from the troop leader Richard Robbins that left her shaking her head in disbelief. “He basically told me that he talked to the other boys and they didn’t see or hear anything,” she said. “He said maybe my son misunderstood what he saw. I said, ‘My son misunderstood a naked man singing ‘Hakuna Matata?’” Four years later, Kelsey, who was then a Dutchess County, New York, lawmaker, was convicted of sexually abusing two 15-year-old scouts on an overnight camping trip.

It sounds like a laughably absurd allegation, out of context. But not only did the troop apparently cover-up that original incident, they were also essentially caught out trying to cover up the later molestation of the two 15-year-olds, with the scoutmaster making excuses for not following mandatory-reporting requirements when confronted by the parents of the abused kids.

And of course, the child molester also made excuses for himself. After confessing to a parent that he molested her son in a recorded phone call that served as evidence in his trial,

Quote:

Kelsey insisted in an opening statement that he was innocent and in the midst of a breakdown at the time of that call. He told the court his family has a history of mental illness, and that the teen’s mother “took advantage of me” during the surreptitiously recorded phone call. “I’m here personally to tell you that I am not guilty of the crimes that I am being accused of,” he said. “I am not a pedophile. … I am not a pervert.” Instead, Kelsey said he had been “deserted” by the boys and at one point likened himself to Jesus, saying he was called on to “suffer for the sake of others.”

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2ZUWNJa