San Antonio Sexual Abuse Lawyer

The History of BSA Perversion Files

The Boy Scouts of America has kept a massive list of sexual predators dating back to 1920. This list is known as the “perversion files,” and it contains the names of thousands of Boy Scout leaders and volunteers who have sexually violated youth members. BSA kept this list a secret for nearly a century, until they were forced to file bankruptcy in 2020 in order to appropriately compensate abuse survivors.

Perversion Files: 1920

In 1920, BSA began creating its infamous perversion files list. This list contained the names of Boy Scout volunteers who were deemed ineligible to participate in the organization due to reports of child sexual abuse.

Perversion Files: 1935

In 1935, President Roosevelt’s son gave a speech at BSA’s 25th anniversary gala and mentioned something called the “Red Files.” At the time, attendees were confused and immediately assumed that the BSA was tracking communists. At a different press conference, BSA clarified that the Red Files weren’t for communist-tracking purposes. Instead, they explained that the Red Files were a large list of known child molesters within the organization. BSA also explained that they had removed several Boy Scout leaders and volunteers in an attempt to protect their youth members. This was the first ever public mention that BSA had a child sexual abuse problem.

Perversion Files: 1971

In 1971, BSA executives began destroying some of the perversion files if the abuser in question was older than 80 years old or dead. By this point, many BSA employees still didn’t know that the organization was keeping a secret list of sexual abusers.

1988 Youth Protection Program

In 1988, BSA attempted to address the sexual abuse problem by creating its Youth Protection Program. The goal of the program was to educate both youth members and leaders about sexual abuse in order to prevent future claims from occurring.

FBI agent Kenneth Lannings – who helped develop the Youth Protection Program within BSA – stated: “a skilled pedophile who can get children into a situation where they must change clothing or stay with him overnight will almost always succeed in seducing them.” Thus, the following policies were implemented into BSA:

• Two-Deep Leadership: This policy mandated that at least two adults must accompany youth members on all BSA-related camping trips and activities. The goal with this policy was to ensure that a youth member was never alone with a potential sexual predator.
• No One-On-One Contact: BSA leaders and volunteers are not allowed to physically contact youth members, especially when there is no one else around.
• Respect of Privacy: BSA leaders and volunteers must give youth members complete privacy while they’re changing or showering. They cannot intrude unless the youth member expresses they are having a health or safety emergency.
• Separate Sleeping and Bathroom Accommodations: Adults and youth members cannot sleep in the same tents, unless the adult is a parent of the youth member. Additionally, female members and volunteers must have their own bathrooms. If there are no female bathrooms available, then there must be separate bathroom times between males and females.
• Proper Preparations for High-Risk Activities: All youth members should have proper clothing, instructions, supervision, equipment, safety measures, etc. when engaging in high-risk activities.
• No Secret Organizations Allowed: BSA does not allow any secret organizations among youth members and adults. All aspects and activities of BSA should be open to everyone.
• Appropriate Clothing: All adults and youth members should wear appropriate clothing during all scouting activities. Skinny-dipping, for example, is not allowed.
• Appropriate Discipline: Any necessary discipline should clearly reflect the values of the organization. This means that no corporal punishment is allowed.
• No Hazing Allowed: Pre-existing youth members and adults are not allowed to engage in hazing with new members.
• Appropriate Training and Supervision for Junior Leaders: Junior leaders must be properly trained and monitored by adult leaders so that everyone abides by BSA policies.

Many people criticized BSA’s Youth Protection Program because, in many ways, it was designed to protect the adults from further abuse allegations, rather than to protect the children. Additionally, BSA did not require criminal background checks for its volunteers until as late as 2008. Failing to do this essentially let thousands of child molesters into the organization.

BSA expanded the original Youth Protection Program in 2019 to include policies against bullying, among other things. All BSA adults are required to do the updated Youth Protection Program every two years.

Perversion Files: 2007

2007 marked the start of child sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Boy Scouts of America. Six former Boy Scouts in Oregon sued the organization, claiming that an assistant scoutmaster sexually abused them in the 1980s. This case marked the first time that a jury was allowed to read thousands of secret perversion files. The secret perversion files – containing thousands upon thousands of names at this point – painted a clear picture of just how widespread and mismanaged the sexual abuse problem was within BSA. The six men were awarded a $19 million settlement.

Perversion Files: 2012

After the Oregon lawsuit, legal experts pushed BSA to release all of the perversion files as evidence to the public. BSA released 1,200 perversion files dated between the years of 1965 to 1985. These files showed just how much BSA tried to cover up the child sexual abuse claims. Scouting officials at the time begged the abusers to resign so that they wouldn’t have to report their crimes to the police. Another investigation of child sexual abuse police reports between 1965 and 1985 – conducted by the LA Times – proved this to be true. The investigation revealed that none of these Boy Scout leaders were reported to the police.