IDAHO
KTVB
[with video]
by Jamie Grey
Follow: @KTVBJamieGrey
KTVB.COM
Posted on November 20, 2013
BOISE — A former Treasure Valley Boy Scout, a “John Doe,” who’s part of a lawsuit against the scouts and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is speaking exclusively to KTVB, explaining why he’s suing decades after he says he was sexually abused and why he still doesn’t want his identity known.
The lawsuit now includes at least a dozen men, and attorneys on the case say more are expected to join. All but one are listed as John Doe on the filing. Most say they were the victim of one man: Jim Schmidt, a former Caldwell scoutmaster who was convicted of abusing another scout in 1983.
“He seemed to love scouting. He seemed to care about the people that he led, the boys. The boys liked him. He gave us a lot of attention,” Doe, the plaintiff, said.
When this John Doe was 12 and 13 years old, he says his scoutmaster sexually abused him at scout meetings held at an LDS church, at the scoutmaster’s home, in the scoutmaster’s car, but mostly on camping trips.
“Some of us had fathers that were very busy. Some didn’t have fathers, or fathers that were absent, and Jim Schmidt filled a void in the lives of a lot of us boys,” Doe said.
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