Nina Schutzman

Poughkeepsie Journal

Editor's note: * The names of the victims and their families have been changed to protect them, as is the Poughkeepsie Journal's policy on sexual abuse victims.

"Mom, I need to talk to you."

It was Dec. 13, 2014 and 15-year-old *Edward was about to reveal a secret to his parents that would change everything for two local families, a Fishkill-based Boy Scout troop and the community.

Michael Kelsey, a then-Dutchess County legislator and assistant scoutmaster in Fishkill's Troop 95, had tried to molest Edward during a summer camping trip a few months back. And Kelsey had molested Edward’s friend, 15-year-old *Glenn.

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DUTCHESS COUNTY BOY SCOUTS: Leaders never reported abuse

Fast forward to March 2017. It's been about 10 months since Kelsey was found guilty of first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree attempted sexual abuse, both felonies, along with forcible touching and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, all misdemeanors. Kelsey, 38, is serving his 7-year prison sentence (plus a decade of post-release supervision).

And the families of the two teens — young men who both testified, during the trial, that they had trusted and looked up to Kelsey, which made his actions even more inexcusable — have launched a $320 million civil lawsuit against Kelsey, Troop 95's former Scoutmaster Rich Robbins and the Boy Scouts of America organization at local and national levels.

For nearly two months, the Boy Scouts of America, including its Hudson Valley Council and Robbins, knew about the accusations against Kelsey, but did not alert authorities or the teens' families, according to the lawsuit, filed March 16 in the New York State Supreme Court in Dutchess County.

The defendants were in positions of trust and are liable for negligence because they "failed to protect the boys," said attorney Jeremy Barberi, who's representing both families in the civil suit. Moreover, the Boy Scouts violated its own "established standard of care" when it failed to inform authorities of the suspected abuse.

In an interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal, Barberi and the teens' parents spoke about what happened in the months leading up to Kelsey's arrest — and why they feel the Boy Scouts failed their boys.

The Boy Scouts of America and Hudson Valley Council say national protocols were followed and immediate action was taken to remove Kelsey from the Scouts. Robbins could not be reached for comment. Kelsey plans to appeal his criminal conviction. His lawyer, Shane Hug, could not be reached for comment.

Kelsey was suspended from the Scouts in October 2014, state police have said. But neither the boys' families, the police, or other Troop 95 families knew about the abuse or Kelsey's suspension until the teens told their parents that December.

"The Boy Scout organization never reported anything until after they were confronted by the parents of the victims," said state police Senior Investigator Timothy Peets in September.

The Boy Scouts obviously thought the allegations were serious enough to suspend Kelsey, said Edward's father, *John. And Kelsey was not "some guy who had just joined the troop — this is a life-long, prominent figure within the Boy Scout organization. But you don’t think it warrants calling the authorities or at least notifying the parents?"

In response to a list of questions the Journal sent to the Boy Scouts via email, Hudson Valley Council Scout Executive David Horton released a statement, similar to the other statements the organization has shared since Kelsey's arrest.

“The behavior included in these allegations is abhorrent and runs counter to everything for which the BSA stands," Horton said in his statement. "Upon learning of these allegations in 2014, we took immediate action to remove this individual and preclude him from any further participation in the Scouting program."

The Hudson Valley Council oversees scouting programs in Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Sullivan counties in New York, and Pike County in Pennsylvania. Dutchess is home to about 2,100 scouts, according to the council's website.

Kelsey was arrested on Dec. 15, 2014. His Boy Scouts membership was officially revoked that same day, the Journal has reported. At the time, the Salt Point Republican was an attorney and was a legislator for Dutchess County Legislature's 25th district.

The organization, which has maintained since Kelsey was first arrested that it followed national Boy Scouts protocol when it comes to reporting abuse allegations, would not clarify if Horton's comment about removing Kelsey was in reference to the suspension or revocation.

In the dark

Before his conviction, Kelsey spent more than two decades as a Scout and a leader in the Hudson Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Parents trusted him. Scouts looked up to him. He was also a rising star in Dutchess County politics and a county legislator. With his law degree, he assisted in local family adoptions. Through his business, Away Adventures, Kelsey planned kayaking and adventure trips with adults and kids.

By the time of the August 2014 scouting event at Cranberry Lake State Campground, the families had known Kelsey for years. The boys had joined the Scouts in 2010.

During Kelsey's criminal jury trial last May in St. Lawrence County Court, Glenn testified Kelsey rubbed his genitals “for 10-20 minutes" while the Scouts slept in Kelsey’s Volkswagen Jetta on the first night of the August 2014 trip.

Edward testified to fending off the advances on the same trip, including batting Kelsey's hands away, zipping up his sleeping bag, and trying to wake up a fellow Scout sleeping nearby; the Scout misunderstood him and went back to sleep. Edward said Kelsey apologized the next day, saying he does "stupid things sometimes.” Edward also testified Kelsey had tried to touch his genitals on an earlier date. He said, while playing a game in a hot tub in which Kelsey tried to touch his nipples, he covered up his chest, only to have Kelsey touch his groin instead.

Kelsey testified he did not touch either Scout; he also testified he was not himself and was suffering from a "mental breakdown” when he admitted to the crime via phone to Edward's mother.

When Edward and Glenn got home, their parents noticed they were acting differently — quiet, subdued. Both families had taken end-of-the-summer vacations when the teens returned from the St. Lawrence County trip and the boys didn't have as much fun as they usually would have.

Edward's dad "would say to me, '(their son) is not acting right' and I would say, 'I know, he's quiet ... maybe it's just cause he's 15,'" said Edward's mom, *Mary.

Neither boy had told the other about Kelsey's abuse — they wouldn't share that with each other until September 2014, their families said.

"In retrospect, they were dealing with it on their own," said Glenn's dad, *Tim. "They thought they were the only ones they were carrying it around."

In September 2014, the teens confided to each other, their parents said. About a month after the boys told each other, they disclosed the abuse to another assistant scoutmaster during a late October hike.

After the assistant scoutmaster dropped the teens off after the hike, he told Robbins, according to the boys' families.

"We found out later the scoutmaster's reaction was to suspend Mike Kelsey for one year," said John, Edward's dad.

Prior to the suspension, Kelsey had not been in attendance at every Scouts meeting, the families said. But his absence, after the suspension, was noticeable. The troop was not notified that Kelsey had been suspended.

In November 2014, Kelsey lost a close race for a state Assembly seat. So the families chalked up Kelsey's absence to the failed election.

"Mike had told me that he was upset from losing the election and he was having a really hard time," Mary said.

During the weeks between Kelsey's suspension and his arrest, both boys were around Kelsey at least twice, Mary said. The local "Scouting community is a small community" and members socialize together outside of Scouting events. So before he was charged, "Mike still had access" to the teens.

Mary said she and her son, as well as Glenn, attended two separate parties during that time at which Kelsey was also a guest.

The Boy Scouts "didn't protect our boys from further exposure to this man," Tim said. "They kept this quiet."

And the teens also attended several Scout meetings with their fathers, the families said.

Robbins "would come up to me and shake my hand and say 'hi, how are you? Thanks for coming,'" Tim said.

Edward and Glenn later told their parents that Robbins had asked the teens if they were OK and had urged them to tell their families.

On Dec. 13 of that year, they did.

'I need to talk to you'

The day Edward told his parents about the abuse, “we were coming home from a scouting event at Bear Mountain Park" in the early afternoon, his mother Mary said. "I was texting with Mike (Kelsey). We were going to get together for coffee.”

Edward questioned his mother about the texts — who was she talking to? Why was she talking to Kelsey?

Later at home, Mary was still exchanging texts with Kelsey when her son approached her in the kitchen and told her he needed to talk to her.

"And I say, ‘OK, let me just set up this coffee date,'" Mary said. "And he grabs my phone and says, ‘I need to talk to you now.' So we went upstairs and he …"

"He told us," said Edward's father, John. "I would say he (Edward) was upset, nervous. He just dropped a grenade on the table that ultimately changes the course of your life and everyone you tell."

Edward's parents asked him if Glenn's parents knew. They didn't, Edward told them.

"We said, 'you better tell Glenn to tell them because we’re heading down there,'" Mary recalled.

Glenn told his parents about the abuse just before Edward's family showed up at their house, said Glenn's mother, *Barbara. The shocked parents sat down at the dining table to talk.

"And we said, we need to go over to the scoutmaster's (Robbins)," Barbara said. "Immediately, that afternoon."

So the families called Robbins, who seemed to know why they were reaching out, the parents said. Robbins invited the parents over; when they arrived, the assistant scoutmaster to whom the boys first disclosed the abuse was at Robbins' house.

'Why didn't you tell us?'

The first thing Robbins said "when we walked in was, 'oh, I'm glad the boys told you,'" Barbara recalled.

The parents asked Robbins why he hadn't told them.

Robbins "sat and thought about it for a second, and his first reaction was, 'the boys didn't tell us as much as they told you,'" said John, Edward's dad. "Then he said, 'well, the boys said not to tell their parents and in the end, I had to think about who my clients were and had to do what was best for my clients.'

"At that point ... I'm under the impression that you as a scoutmaster have an obligation to tell me," John added. "Your (Boy Scouts) policy says that if you suspect ... I don’t have to give you a video of some boy being molested ... you are obligated to notify the authorities. OK, you don’t want to come to me because you don’t want to be confronted by what's going to be an angry parent. You're obligated to call the authorities. You didn't place a call to me or the authorities."

The families knew the Scouts had not contacted law enforcement because there had "never been any police involvement at that point," John said.

After the conversation with Robbins, Mary stood in the scoutmaster's driveway and called a friend for advice on which agency to report the abuse to. By 6 p.m., the families had set next-day appointments for interviews with state police.

The boys spoke to investigators Sunday.

On Monday morning, the boys met with state police at the Poughkeepsie-based Child Advocacy Center and gave written statements. That same day, Edward's mother placed a police-recorded "controlled call" to Kelsey.

A recording of the call was played during Kelsey's trial; Kelsey can be heard on the call saying “I reached for him in an area I shouldn't have,” referring to the teenager’s genitals, and, “He batted my hands away.”

The Boy Scouts have said that after the organization learned of the abuse, it was immediately reported to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.

The families said they later found out from state police that Boy Scouts reported the abuse to Child Protective Services the same day Kelsey was arrested.

Laws and policies

There is no state mandate in New York that requires Boy Scout volunteers to report the suspected sexual abuse of minors.

Sen. Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park, introduced a bill in the state Senate in 2016 that could change that by broadening the scope of the mandated reporting law. The law would give police and prosecutors the tools they need to stop and prosecute abuse to the fullest extent by requiring those mandated reporters to report suspected abuse by individuals in positions of trust or authority — people like teachers, coaches, babysitters and troop leaders.

The bill is currently in committee, according to the state Senate website.

But state laws aside, the Boy Scouts has its "own internal procedure" that does require them to report abuse to authorities, and that procedure was not followed, Barberi said.

On the Hudson Valley Council website, it states: "all persons involved in Scouting shall report to local authorities any good-faith suspicion or belief that any child is or has been physically or sexually abused, physically or emotionally neglected, exposed to any form of violence or threat, exposed to any form of sexual exploitation including the possession, manufacture, or distribution of child pornography; online solicitation; enticement; or showing of obscene material."

The Council's website also specifically mentions police involvement: "All involved in Scouting are personally responsible to immediately report to law enforcement any belief or good faith suspicion that any child is or has been abused or exploited or endangered in any way."

The Boy Scouts of America Youth Protection policy does not appear to mention law enforcement, but does include the same "report to local authorities" stipulation.

Under incident descriptions and reporting instructions, an allegation of suspected sexual abuse is classified as "catastrophic." Reporting requirements dictate that one must immediately "get help for injured parties (for instance, call 911), notify the council Scout executive (in this case, the Hudson Valley Council), complete an Incident Information Report, forward the incident report to your local council enterprise risk management contact, and ask the council contact to enter the incident into the RiskConsole incident reporting system. The incident should be marked as catastrophic."

"Recognizing youth protection requires sustained vigilance, in the years since these incidents took place we have continued to develop and enhance our efforts to protect youth, regularly consulting with experts from law enforcement, child safety, psychology, and other disciplines to ensure its efforts consistently evolve along with the ever-changing awareness of the dangers and challenges facing youth," the Boy Scouts told the Journal via statement.

The organization "seeks to prevent child abuse through a comprehensive program of education on the subject, the chartered organization leader selection process, criminal background and other checks, policies and procedures to serve as barriers to abuse and the prompt mandatory reporting of any allegation or suspicion of abuse," the Boy Scouts added.

A program called "Youth Protection Training" is required of all volunteers and must be renewed every two years. There's also a "two-deep" rule that says, among other requirements, that an adult volunteer is not to be alone with a boy but must have other adults or youths present.

As part of a court order resulting from one civil verdict in 2010, the Boy Scouts of America was ordered to list sexual abuse as a danger in scouting in its parents’ guide to Youth Protection.

The national organization was also ordered to release 1,247 documented reports of sexual abuse by volunteers from 1965-1985, also known by the organization as the “Perversion Files.” Any reports made before and after that period were not released.

Litigation

The civil lawsuits (one filed on behalf of each teen) allege, among other things, that defendants failed to properly supervise the boys while they were in their care.

Kelsey used his position "as a long-time respected assistant scoutmaster ... to gain the trust and confidence of the teens so that he could "more easily sexually exploit" them, according to the lawsuits. Kelsey gave the teens "specialized treatment (that) was sufficiently and notoriously outside the range of normal assistant scoutmaster treatment," which violated established Boy Scout policies.

Robbins, the Boy Scouts and the church that sponsored Troop 95 are all liable for Kelsey's abuse because they failed to intervene, the suit alleges. The defendants had "actual or implied" knowledge of Kelsey's actions and failed to report and prevent the abuse.

The lawsuits also address Boy Scouts hiring, retaining and suspension practices, though attorney Barberi said he could not yet elaborate on why the Scouts were negligent to appoint Kelsey as assistant scoutmaster.

State police have said Kelsey had no prior criminal record.

Each lawsuit seeks total damages of $160 million.

Aftermath

The parents are proud of their sons — it took courage to come forward, especially against a man like Kelsey, who was admired in the community, they said.

From the second the boys told their parents about Kelsey’s abuse, “my focus was getting this guy away from kids,” Mary said.

And the families are encouraging other abuse victims — in any situation, not just the Boy Scouts — to come forward, no matter how long it's been.

"Don't suffer with that," Barbara said.

Edward and Glenn are still involved with the Boy Scouts, "by their own choice," Tim said. The teens had put a lot of effort into becoming Eagle Scouts, but "after this happened, their activity level dropped way off."

Robbins is no longer scoutmaster of the troop. He "voluntarily stepped down" in 2015, the families said. But the parents don't believe Robbins' stepping down was related to the situation with Kelsey.

Kelsey is in a protective custody unit at the medium security Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida County, according to the prison.

Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518 Twitter: @pojonschutzman