More than a billion dollars in settlements have been reached as the Boy Scouts of America begin payouts begin to tens of thousands of men alleged to have been sexually assaulted and molested as children by their scoutmasters and others in the organization.
Two settlements have been reached thus far and while the final tally will soar into ten figures, advocates and lawyers for the victims and survivors of the abuse are not happy. Under the terms reached thus far, the Boy Scouts’ insurance company The Hartford will pay $787 million into a fund established for the men. At the same time, a separate agreement dictates that the Mormon church; also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will pay $250 million into the sex abuse settlement fund. Prior to last year, the church was the largest single sponsor of Boy Scout troops in the country. The organization has since exited its partnership with scouting.
BSA declared bankruptcy in early 2020 and has been working toward a reorganization that must be approved by the majority of its sex abuse victims as well as the court. And while a billion dollars seems like a large stride in that direction, lawyers for the victims say that much more work is left to be done.
“The only winners in this latest proposal are the Boy Scouts, their local councils, the Mormon Church, and the Hartford insurance company,” said one lawyer whose firm is representing over 1,000 Boy Scout victims. “The Boy Scouts are offering abuse survivors a fraction of what their cases are worth and the assets available to pay them. The Mormon Church is reported to have roughly $100 billion in assets, but is offering a paltry $250 million to compensate the thousands of abuse survivors who were abused in Mormon Boy Scout troops by Mormon Scout leaders.”
