Good News for Victims of Scout Abuse in New Jersey

Sexual predators are known to molest children, teenagers, and adults in a large number of organizations. The following list is a small sample of organizations that have allowed or even covered up sexual molestation at the hands of its members:

• Cub Scouts
• Blazer Scouts
• Boy Scouts
• Webelos
• Explorer Scouts
• Sea Scouts
• Venturing
• Spiral Scouts International
• Campfire USA
• Day camps
• Overnight camps
• Summer camps
• Little League organizations
• 4-H Groups
• Schools
• Religious organizations and institutions
• Other youth organizations

If you or a loved one has experienced sexual abuse through any of the above organizations or others, either recently or in the past, please contact us at info@heiligmanandmogul.com. Heiligman & Mogul will treat your sexual abuse case with the greatest sensitivity and compassion and will do everything possible to see that those who molested you or your child are brought to justice. Rest assured that your initial cost-free consultation and any additional consultations and communications will be strictly confidential.

Hidden Scout Abuse Perversion Files

The prevalence of abuse within scout organizations is particularly egregious. For more than 90 years, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has been fully aware of rampant sexual abuse of young boys and teenagers by scout leaders and other scout volunteers. The organization’s knowledge is evidenced by lists—currently called “Perversion Files” and maintained by the BSA since the 1920s—of men within the BSA known to have sexually abused scouts. Perversion files kept from 1944 to 2016 revealed 7,819 sexual molesters within the BSA and 12,254 victims. (In the past, these files were known as the Red Flag List, Confidential Files, the Ineligible Volunteer List, or the IV Files.)

Yet, despite the BSA’s identification of thousands of counselors and other scout leaders who had abused young scouts, the BSA never alerted scouts or their families about this abuse and failed to prevent at least 50 of these known sexual predators from rejoining the scouts and abusing again. The continued abuse by these predators was due to:

• failed registration processes
• clerical errors
• false information given by prior abusers
• the BSA’s failure to check volunteers against its Perversion Files, and
• the BSA’s silence about the very existence of these files

Scout sexual abuse lawsuits have been filed across the country, requesting the release of these files by the BSA and the payment of damages to victims. The suits allege, among other things, that the BSA deliberately concealed “a known danger of leaders grooming scouts and their families to access scouts and sexually abuse them in and out of scouting.” One of the most insidious aspects of the BSA’s behavior is the extent to which scouts are taught to respect and obey their scout leaders, leaving scouts all the more vulnerable to abuse.

New Sexual Abuse Law in New Jersey

On May 19, 2019, the State of New Jersey passed a new sexual abuse law that dramatically increases sexual abuse survivors’ chances of bringing their abusers to justice.  The law significantly extends the statute of limitations (the time during which someone can sue) in civil sexual-abuse cases by creating a two year window for survivors’ claims to be filed that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.

The law will become effective on December 1, 2019.  Some of the more important sections of the law provide:

• A two-year window, beginning December 1, 2019, for children and adult survivors of sexual abuse to file a civil case which allege past sexual abuse;
• Allows adult survivors of child sex abuse to bring a civil case against their abusers until the survivor reaches the age of 55, or within seven years from the date they become aware of the harm of their injuries (whichever is later).
• Survivors also will be able to sue institutions and individuals that were aware of and permitted the abuse to occur or otherwise protected these abusers

The result of the new law is that many more predator priests and other abusers will be brought to justice and reduce the chances of coverup by church officials and other institutions more interested in their own reputations than the safety of the children in their care.