ACCOUNTABILITY NOW

Over 81,000 Child Sexual Abuse Claims Filed Against Boy Scouts of America

Lawyers say the claims eclipse the number levied against the Catholic Church.

Over 81,500 people have come forward claiming they were sexually abused while they were involved with the Boy Scouts of America over the past few decades, The New York Times reports. Lawyers working on the claims say the number eclipses the sexual abuse and molestation accusations filed against the Catholic Church, believed to be numbered around 9,000. Claims have continued to pour in ahead of a Monday deadline established in Delaware bankruptcy court, where the national organization initiated a Chapter 11 filing earlier this year. In response, the Boy Scouts of America said the organization was “devastated by the number of lives impacted by past abuse in Scouting.” They claimed to be seeking a process where survivors could receive compensation. “The response we have seen from survivors has been gut wrenching,” the organization also said. “We are deeply sorry.”