Scouts BSA issues apology to New Jersey man suing them over abuse

Scouts BSA issued an apology to an Atlantic County man who claims he was abused by his scoutmaster 40 years ago when he was a boy.

News 12 Staff

May 2, 2019, 1:54 AM

Updated 2,053 days ago

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Scouts BSA issued an apology to an Atlantic County man who claims he was abused by his scoutmaster 40 years ago when he was a boy.
Richard Halvorson announced Tuesday that he was filing a lawsuit against the organization for the abuse he allegedly endured. Halvorson says that he does not think that the group did enough to stop child sex abuse even after complaints were made against scout leaders.
Scouts BSA issued the following statement, "We agree with Mr. Halvorson that youth protection policies (even strong ones like those the BSA has implemented throughout our history) are most effective when all youth-serving organizations can access and act upon this information.”
The statement continued, “This is why we fully support and advocate for the creation of a national registry of those who are suspected of child abuse or inappropriate behavior with a child, and thus allowing all youth-serving organizations to share and access such information.”
A list of 200 Boy Scout troop leaders was recently released by a law firm representing several alleged victims of sexual abuse. On the list were 52 accused men from New Jersey.