Boy Scouts Nearly Double Registration Fees: Is Sexual Abuse to Blame?
In an October 26, 2019 article in The New York Post, Dean Balsamini reported that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) are nearly doubling the registration fee required to become a member of the organization. The BSA, according to the article, notified leaders that effective January 1, 2020, prices would go from $33 to $60. The reason for the increase? The BSA cited the “rising cost of insurance,” as the cause of the fee hike.
While the cost of insurance may, in fact, be rising for the BSA, some BSA leaders allege that it is the sexual abuse scandal facing the scouting organization that is really behind the price increase. Charles Greinsky, VP of the Staten Island BSA, stated, “This is about the pedophiles and the insurance we have to pay because of these pedophiles and the fact that the Scouts knew about many of them for years.”
Greinsky goes on to say the hike is “horrendous” and that mismanagement of the scandal is also to blame.
Boy Scouts of America Believe Thousands of Youngsters Were Abused
Thousands of individuals have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against BSA, and many are or are expected to become plaintiffs against the organization. Documents have revealed that the BSA claimed to believe more than 7,800 of its former leaders allegedly abused nearly 12,000 members between 1944 and 2016.
Child Victim’s Act Gives Extra Time for Sexually Abused Boy Scouts to File Lawsuits
New York passed the Child Victim’s Act, which gives victims of child sexual abuse additional time to file civil lawsuits against their abusers and the organizations which protected them. Several states across the nation have passed similar legislation. The new laws allow victims who were sexually abused by clergy, scouts, and others, the opportunity to face their accusers in court and collect monetary damages the laws allow. In New York, victims have one year to file a lawsuit even if the time expired under the old statute. What does this mean? It means that anyone who was sexually abused as a child may still have time to file a lawsuit to collect damages.
Boy Scouts Has Not Connected the Fee Increase to the Sexual Abuse Scandal
The BSA has not acknowledged that the possibility of defending lawsuits or the sexual abuse scandal itself has anything to do with the hefty increase. A New York attorney who has filed lawsuits against the BSA under the Child Victim’s Act, however, says it’s possible, they “are trying to raise money to pay for their past misdeeds and the liability for the lawsuits being brought.”
Contact Our Boy Scout Sexual Abuse Lawyers for a Free Evaluation of Your Claim.
Alonso Krangle, LLP, has experienced lawyers reviewing boy scout sexual abuse claims. Call us today at 800-403-6191 to protect your legal rights to collect damages for childhood sexual abuse. Find out if you still have time to file a lawsuit against your abusers.