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August 12, 2004
Tacoma man sues Scouts, alleging abuse by scoutmaster
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Wednesday, August 11, 2004 · Last updated 8:00 p.m. PT
TACOMA, Wash. -- A Tacoma man on Wednesday sued the Boy Scouts of America and its local council, alleging organization officials failed to protect him from sexual abuse by a scoutmaster who died last year.
David Aqua, 47, also contends the Irving, Texas-based organization has failed to screen for child molesters or adopt measures to protect youngsters "despite knowledge scoutmasters across the country have been accused of abusing children," said a news release from his lawyers.
The lawsuit was filed in Pierce County Superior Court.
Doug Dillow, scout executive for the local Pacific Harbor Council, said he could not comment because the council had not yet been served with paperwork.
"We take youth protection very seriously," Dillow said. "One case of child abuse is too many."
The national organization did not immediately return a call placed after business hours.
Aqua said he was a member of Troop 120 here from age 12 to 14, and was abused repeated by his scoutmaster during those three years in the late 1960s and early '70s. He said the abuse occurred at several locations, including the scoutmaster's apartment, where meetings were often held, and in the parking lot of a local church that sponsored the troop.
The scoutmaster was an Army man who served as a scoutmaster in several U.S. cities, the release said. It described him as a single man with no children, a "transient-style lifestyle" and few ties to the community who was "singly focused on young boys."
The scouts have a youth-protection program, Dillow said. The key strategies are: educating scouts and leaders about child abuse; ensuring two adults are always present, with no one-on-one adult-child activities; providing separate facilities to ensure children and adults do not sleep or shower together and strict leadership requirements, with criminal background checks.
Posted by Nealus at August 12, 2004 10:54 AM
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