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According to reports, one man alleges that he was abused from 1968 through 1972 when he was between 11 and 14 years old by a Scoutmaster at what is now the Theodore Roosevelt Council and Troop 258 at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in Bellerose.
The second lawsuit alleges that a former Scout troop leader abused him from 1986 through 1989 when he was between 8 and 12 years old at a troop connected to Dutch Lane Elementary School in Hicksville.
“Defendants have known for decades that sexual predators had infiltrated scouting, desiring positions around children, due in part to their sexual interest in children,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants knew or should have known of the danger that pedophiles presented to children participating in scouting before [plaintiffs were] abused.”
Seven other lawsuits have been filed against the Boy Scouts of America alleging sexual abuse in Manhattan Supreme Court and Nassau County Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, Aug. 14, a provision of New York’s Child Victims Act took effect, making the start of the one-year period when alleged victims can file claims against alleged abusers and institutions that protected them, no matter how long ago the abuse may have occurred.
Victims of sexual abuse in New York previously were required to file any civil lawsuits before they turned 23. Under the new law, anyone under the age of 55 can file a lawsuit, and during the one-year window, older victims can also make claims.
Cases have also been filed against each of New York’s eight Roman Catholic Church dioceses, the Boy Scouts of America, some schools and hospitals.
In response to the influx of cases, New York State has designated 45 judges statewide that will hear cases, some of which date back decades.
“The revived Child Victims Act cases are critically important cases, raising numerous challenging legal issues that must be adjudicated as consistently and expeditiously as possible across the state,” New York Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks said. “We are fully committed to providing appropriate and sufficient resources to achieve that goal.”
The one-year window where the statute of limitations will be lifted on these cases in New York ends on Aug. 14, 2020.
“We don’t know who those offenders are. We don’t know where they’re living,” Attorney Jeff Anderson said when announcing the lawsuits. “Until the Child Victims Act passed here in New York, there was no hope that action could be taken.
"In every single instance this is a trusted authority figure, a scout leader, charged with developing the youth and under the guise of safety and in a position of authority, repeatedly and in every instance raped a child under his charge and caused that child to suffer in secrecy, and in silence and in shame for decades.”
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