http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/story/4167096p-4181258c.html
2 brothers sue Boy Scouts, allege sexual abuse from 1971 to 1983
SEAN ROBINSON; The News Tribune
Two former members of Boy Scout troops in Tacoma and Federal Way claim their scoutmaster sexually abused them repeatedly between 1971 and 1983.
Brothers Matt and Tom Stewart are suing the Boy Scouts of America and two local Boy Scout chapters: Tacoma's Pacific Harbors Council and Seattle's Chief Seattle Council.
The suit, filed Monday in King County Superior Court, also names the former scoutmaster. The News Tribune is not using the scoutmaster's name because he has not been charged with a crime.
The Stewarts are seeking unspecified damages. "I want to be compensated for the pain and suffering and torture I suffered for 10 years," Matt Stewart said.
The brothers and their attorney, Timothy Kosnoff, held a news conference Tuesday at the doors of Pacific Harbor Council headquarters on South 19th Street in Tacoma.
Kosnoff is a member of the Tacoma law firm Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim.
Kosnoff and the Stewarts said BSA leaders know about widespread sexual abuse within the organization but do nothing about it. They said the organization does not perform criminal background checks on prospective troop leaders.
"I will not put on the Boy Scout uniform again until the Boy Scouts make changes," said Tom Stewart, who has led Scout troops as an adult. "I know the application process. It's a joke."
Doug Dillow, scout executive of the Pacific Harbors Council, would not comment directly on the suit.
He said the BSA has a five-point program designed to prevent sexual abuse. It includes a criminal background check for troop leader applicants and a policy that requires two adults to be present with Scouts at all times during scouting activities.
"To us, any child, even one child being abused, is unacceptable," Dillow said.
Gregg Shields, national spokesman for BSA, said the organization began implementing a criminal background check system in April of this year. He added that BSA frequently rejects troop leader applicants and keeps a confidential file of rejected applicants.
Kosnoff calls that file "a secret database," and cites it as evidence that BSA knows the scope of sexual abuse within the organization but refuses to disclose it. Shields said the list remains confidential because it could expose individuals to false accusations.
The Stewart brothers were members of Scout troops 310 in Tacoma and 336 in Federal Way from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. Both became Eagle Scouts.
They say their scoutmaster gained their trust and molested them repeatedly during scouting activities. He threatened to kill their parents if the boys disclosed the abuse, Matt Stewart said.
Neither brother filed a criminal complaint at the time. In 1989, Kosnoff said, Seattle police investigated the scoutmaster, who now lives in West Seattle, based on complaints from the Stewarts. The scoutmaster confessed to the abuse, Kosnoff said, but no charges were filed because the statute of limitations had expired.
Seattle police did not respond to requests for comment on the 1989 investigation. The former scoutmaster, who is no longer affiliated with BSA, did not return a phone call.
Tom Stewart said he has two sons who have been in the BSA. His older son is no longer affiliated with it, but his younger son still is. Stewart said he accompanies his son on scouting trips.
Kosnoff is a specialist in sexual abuse cases and has represented abuse victims in lawsuits against the Catholic Church, the Mormon Church and Jehovah's Witnesses. He compared the Stewarts' suit against BSA to those cases.
"This lawsuit is the first of its kind," he said. "It lays out the institutional case against the Boy Scouts."
Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486
[email protected]
(Published 12:01AM, October 15th, 2003) 