LA Times to post files of alleged sex offenders investigated by Boy Scouts

10-18-2012 National:

The Los Angeles Times is set to make available online Thursday an exhaustive compilation of alleged sex offenders who have been investigated by the Boy Scouts of America over the past several decades. The files include reports listing the names of suspect employees and volunteers — some from the Washington region — whom the organization often failed to report to law enforcement authorities.

The newspaper said it would release at 2:30 p.m. Eastern about 1,200 files dating from 1965 to 1985 that were ordered public by the Oregon Supreme Court. The release marks the first opportunity for people to comb through a vast number of alleged sex-crime reports filed internally with the Boy Scouts. The names of alleged victims will be redacted.

everal news organizations that fought the Boy Scouts in court to get the files released will be able to post the files online after Oregon’s high court lifts an embargo that expires Thursday.

The Times has reported extensively for the past several months on Boy Scout sex abuse cases, featuring interviews with victims and alleged perpetrators, and has already released several reports from what the Boy Scouts dubbed the “Perversion Files.”

The paper based much of its reporting on confidential files and other records on 5,000 cases dating to the 1940s. No criminal charges were filed in many of the cases. The Times said many of the allegations of wrongdoing were never reported to police. ..Source.. by Ian Shapira,