Boy Scouts Sex Abuse Lawsuit Filed In Ohio

Boy Scouts of America is the target of a sexual abuse lawsuit. A 24-year-old Arizona man claims his Boy Scout leader sexually abused him during field trips to Kings Island and elsewhere. The alleged sexual abuse by the scout leader supposedly occurred in 1999.

Thomas Abner claims that now deceased Boy Scout leader Steven Woodard abused him multiple times after befriending the family. The Boy Scouts sex abuse lawsuit claims that the abuse began when Abner was 11 years old. Thomas Abner is suing the scouting group because he believes they should have known that Steven Woodard was a problem, the Dayton Daily News reports. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $25,000, the Cincinnati Enquirer notes.

An excerpt from the Boy Scouts sex abuse lawsuit reads:

“BSA knew of or should have known of Woodard violating its child protection rules by spending time alone with plaintiff outside of scouting, but negligently failed to discipline Woodard or warn plaintiff or his mother of the risk of molestation in such cases. The risk of molestation in scouting was not open and obvious because BSA had taken numerous steps to conceal the magnitude of the problem and at all times relevant to this complaint, denied that there was a child sexual abuse problem in scouting.”

A new sexual abuse statute of limitations law enacted in 2006 allows Thomas Abner to file a claim until age 30. Abner’s lawyer Konrad Kircher had this to say about the Boy Scouts sex abuse lawsuit:

“He has just recently been able to confront his demons.”

The Boys Scouts of America have not yet publicly responded to the sex abuse lawsuit by Thomas Abner.

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