CT Boy Scout Sex Abuse Attorney
Boy Scout sexual abuse attorney Frank Bartlett sees a common pattern from his clients. When adults are put into an authoritative role over young children, they have an obligation to honor the trust placed in them. Scoutmasters with the Boy Scouts of America exploiting that control through acts of sexual abuse does more than just shatter trust. Their predatory practices also change the lives of victims immediately and for years into the future. The Boy Scouts of America is a high-profile organization with a history that goes back nearly an entire century. However, a significant portion of that history involves sexual abuse of Boy Scouts by scoutmasters during camping trips and other Boy Scout functions. Traditionally, these predators are skilled in locating organizations and authoritative positions where they can commit crimes against children and then threaten or bribe them into silence. Boy Scouts who have been sexually abused at an early age by CT Scout Leaders such as Alton Parady in Southern CT, David Kress of Thompson, CT or David (Dirk) Davenport of Madison, CT should contact us now. If you or anyone you know has been abused please call our firm.
Forensic Investigation of Boys Scouts of America Reveals Widespread Sexual Abuse
2019 – An expert who analyzed the Boy Scouts of America’s “ineligible volunteer” or “perversion files,” found that over 7,800 volunteers and leaders within the organization had been credibly accused of utilizing the organization to sexually abuse children. She further found that these volunteers and leaders had abused more than 12,000 victims between 1944-2016.
Dr. Jane Warren, a professor at the University of Virginia, led a team contracted by the Boy Scouts of America to conduct a forensic investigation into the prevalence of sexual abuse within the organization. The culmination of this 5-year examination of internal documents was the discovery of a pattern of rampant sexual abuse, child endangerment, and systemic failure within the BSA that has infected communities across the country for decades.
Warren’s findings became a matter of public record shortly after she testified as part of a child abuse trial in Minnesota. This list of perpetrators is believed to be the largest database of offenders ever compiled in the organization’s 109-year history. Of the 7,800 perpetrators listed, at least 150 were involved with scout troops in New York and 35 in Connecticut.
This newly-revealed evidence of child abuse within the Boy Scouts of America comes on the eve of the effective date of the pro-victim New York Child Victim’s Act. This legislative victory extends the statute of limitations for victims to pursue civil claims for child sexual abuse and eliminates reporting roadblocks for victims. It also includes a one-year “revival window” that will allow all victims to pursue claims for child sexual abuse, without regard to the current statute of limitations. This one-time, one-year opportunity for all NY victims to seek justice against any abuser begins August 14, 2019.
Connecticut’s state government is in the process of following New York’s powerful example, as they have already proposed a bill to extend and eliminate many of the statutes regarding civil and criminal charges. This bill would include a 27-month “revival-window” for all victims to come forward and was necessitated by disturbing reports of parish abuse within the state’s largest Catholic communities.
Like New York and Connecticut, many other states are currently reassessing their statutes of limitation relating to sexual abuse. This re-evaluation represents a long-overdue legal shift from protecting institutions to advocating for individual victim’s rights. Statistics show that the average sexual abuse victim does not report their abuse until they are 52 years old. Eliminating safeguards for sexual abusers, like statutes of limitation, will allow victims to come forward to pursue legal action to obtain the justice they deserve at a point in their life that they have the maturity and confidence to face this difficult ordeal.
Connecticut Personal Injury Attorney – Holding Sexual Predators Responsible
In representing adult victims of abuse who were former boy scouts, Cheshire Boy Scout sexual abuse lawyer Frank Bartlett Jr. pursues actions against the national corporate organization and the local council. He conducts in-depth investigations to identify the knowledge the organization or organizations possessed about the scoutmaster’s propensities for sexual abuse. Attorney Bartlett is a recognized leader in this aspect of the law and has been quoted on the topic of BSA Scoutmaster’s sexual abuse in several national publications such as the Miami Herald, L.A. Times, and has been interviewed on all Connecticut major TV News stations.
TV News and Press about sexual abuse in Scouting
10/18/2012 WFSB TV HARTFORD, CT –Nearly two decades worth of secret files about suspected Boy Scout molestation has been released, including men from Connecticut. –
06/15/2012 Attorney Bartlett quoted in Los Angeles Times about sexual abuse cases against Boy Scouts of America: Read more here.
05/31/12 New Haven Register Two more former Madison Boy Scouts sue over sex abuse document: Read more here.
02/22/2012 WVIT 30 Boy Scout Molestation Case brought on behalf of clients by Frank Bartlett Jr. Read more here.
02/21/2012 News conference at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. Covered by local TV stations, Attorney Frank Bartlett of Bartlett Legal Group in Cheshire CT and Attorney Kelly Clark of Portland, Oregon announce a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America and the Connecticut Yankee Council of the Boy Scouts saying they knew or should have known that convicted abuser David “Dirk” Davenport had molested boys in Minnesota and Nebraska prior to his activities in Connecticut. Attorney Clark passed away in December of 2013. Attorney Bartlett was very fortunate to have worked with Attorney Clark, one of the nation’s leaders in helping eliminate sexual abuse in scouting. Attorney Clark was co-counsel with Attorney Bartlett on several Boy Scouts of America abuse cases in Connecticut. For over thirty years Attorney Clark represented hundreds of child molestation victims in litigation against what he called “institutions of trust” — the Catholic Church, and the Boy Scouts of America. He helped force mammoth and beloved organizations to concede to decades of sexual abuse within their ranks, or to efforts to keep knowledge of abuse secret from the public. The knowledge Attorney Bartlett gained by working with Attorney Clark has been invaluable in representing sexually abused Boy Scouts here in Connecticut.
What to expect at your initial consultation
Clients who retain our firm receive the validation they need at the initial, confidential consultation. In addition to reviewing timelines of the abuse and locations where sexual molestation occurred, clients are directed to literature that includes Scout’s Honor, a book that covers abuse that occurred to other boy scouts. They are given the needed reassurance that they are not at fault nor are they alone. Legal action may not be the first step. Getting the treatment and counseling you need may be necessary to get certain issues under control. Civil actions can take place following the criminal process or concurrently with the criminal process, although the presentation of criminal charges against the perpetrator is not a necessary precursor to filing a civil action.