Lawsuit alleges fraud by Boy Scouts, LDS church in abuse cases

Melissa Luck by Melissa Luck

Five men will file a lawsuit today, suing the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The men allege the institutions committed fraud by not informing families and scouts that there could be child molesters involved in the scouting program.

The plaintiffs in the case, three of whom are not named, say they were abused by their scout leaders in the Boise and Lewiston areas.

One of the scout leaders, Lawrence Libey, was convicted of sex abuse in 1998. Now deceased, the suit alleges he was a Boy Scout leader in Lewiston in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

“We need the public’s help,” said attorney Ashley Vaughn, who is representing one of the plaintiffs. “We have information done by the Scouts about Libey here in Lewiston in the late 1960’s. We are looking for any witnesses who might have any information.”

Vaughn said the fraud claims are based on “the coverup by Boy Scouts of a known danger in Scouting.”

“For decades, BSA misled families about the safety of Scouting by covering up the known dangers of sexual molesters targeting Scouting to access victims,” said Vaughn. “BSA knew from the thousands of ‘perversion files’ it kept on Scout volunteers accused of sexual misconduct with children that Scouts were at risk, but intentionally chose to keep this information hidden from parents, volunteers, and sponsoring organizations.”

The suit alleges that most of the troops affected were sponsored by the LDS church.

The case was filed Monday in Idaho U.S. District Court.

One of the plaintiffs, identified in court as John Doe XX, said he was abused by Libey in the early 1970s. He said he came forward in the hopes of gaining justice for himself and others affected by abuse.

“If we stand together, this case will help right the wrong that was done to us when we were children in Boy Scouts,” he said.

Attorney Vaughn believes that there are others who have information about these cases or had been witnesses to the abuse.

“We want these witnesses or other survivors of abuse by Scout leaders to know that, if they come forward, they will be listened to and treated with respect,” she said.

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