Lawsuit claims den leader abused Cub Scout in the 1990s

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FARMINGTON — A Utah man who says he was abused by his den leader while a Cub Scout in the 1990s has sued his former Scout leader, the Boy Scouts and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Though the statute of limitations has timed out, attorneys for the man now in his 30s want a 2nd District judge in Farmington to make an exception and hear the civil suit filed Monday against 72-year-old Thomas Thackery and others.

“It was in the last few years when our client essentially came to the realization that a lot of issues he’s got was because of the abuse,” said attorney Craig Vernon. “This is not repressed memory. He knew he was abused,” Vernon added, though for several years, he said his client didn’t connect the dots.

In 2015, when his nephews approached the same age at which he was sexually abused — 7 and 8 years old — the former Scout began having flashbacks to the assaults, the suit says.

The legal complaint says the abuse began in the summer of 1991 when the boy claimed he saw Thackery beating his 12-year-old daughter. When he spoke up and stepped in front of the girl to defend her, Thackery dragged the boy in to a back room and raped him, the lawsuit claims.

The suit alleges that Thackeray continued to rape and abuse the child at nearly every den meeting where he was the only male adult present, using pressure points to force the child to his knees. The lawsuit goes on to say that Thackeray told the child not to tell anyone, threatening further abuse and harm to his two brothers.

The abuse stopped in 1992 when Thackeray was arrested and charged in an unrelated child pornography case and was no longer involved with the Scout group, though the boy didn’t know about his arrest, the lawsuit says. It wasn’t until 2016 that he learned of a more recent arrest and realized Thackeray “could no longer hurt him. Up until this time, plaintiff continued to subconsciously live in fear” of his abuser, the suit says.

The attorney most recently listed for Thackeray, who is now in prison, did not return a message for comment Wednesday.

Utah court records show Thackeray pleaded guilty in 1992 to dealing material harmful to a minor, a third-degree felony, in Farmington. In 2009, he was sentenced to at least four years and up to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty in Ogden to four counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, a second-degree felony, and stalking, a third-degree felony. More recently, he admitted to stalking, a third-degree felony, in Logan in 2016.

The alleged victim is named in court documents only by his initials.

The suit alleges the Scouts made “negligent representations” to the child’s family every year that resulted in a vulnerable situation for him. While the organization has long had a youth protection program designed to prevent sexual abuse, it did not mandate criminal background checks until 2003, the lawsuit says. The Scouts and church lacked policies to adequately protect children in their care, it alleges, contributing to a dangerous environment.

A spokesman for the church did not have a response to a request for comment Wednesday. The church has repeatedly said it does not tolerate abuse of any kind.

The Boy Scouts of America in a statement said it has continually updated a system to bar those who should not work with youth from its programs since the 1920s.

“First and foremost, we care deeply about all victims of child abuse and sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting. We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to abuse innocent children,” the statement reads. “We believe victims, we support them, and we pay for counseling by a provider of their choice and we encourage them to come forward.”

The organization said today it requires courses on protecting youth and uses background checks in selecting its leaders, in addition to other precautions.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2naJe76