UNITED STATES
The Kansas City Star
Things are never looking good for an organization when a court orders it to release internal documents known as its “perversion files.”
That’s what the Boy Scouts of America was compelled to do in October in the aftermath of a judgment that awarded $19.9 million in damages to a plaintiff who was sexually molested by a Portland, Ore., scout leader in the 1980s.
The perversion or “ineligible volunteer” files point to a conundrum facing organizations that bring young people into close contact with adult leaders. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put it, “The same dynamics that create a nurturing environment, and may ultimately protect against child sexual abuse, can also open the doors to sexually abusive behaviors.”
Any organization, whether a church or civic group or business, has an obligation to protect the public from staff members who may have malign intent, but it must also protect the rights of those same staff members to privacy and the presumption of innocence until proof of guilt.
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