Amanda J. Purcell

Poughkeepsie Journal

The Boy Scouts of America Hudson Valley Council knew that two Dutchess County Boy Scouts may have been abused by a leader, but didn’t tell police.

And, they weren’t legally required to.

In the wake of a former Dutchess County assistant scoutmaster and legislator’s sexual-abuse conviction, a disturbing truth has emerged. Despite laws in New York mandating reporting the suspected sexual abuse of minors, none of them apply to protecting scouts or any other child entrusted to someone in a position of authority outside of their home.

State laws specify nearly 40 professions that must legally report good-faith suspicions of sexual abuse against a minor, but only when that abuse happened because of a parent or "other person legally responsible."

And though other professions that work closely with children are on that list, Scout volunteers are not. Scout volunteers are governed only by the organization's own ethical policy, which was not followed.

"Boy Scout leaders are not deemed to be a mandatory reporter, although an overnight summer camp director is," Dutchess County District Attorney William Grady said. "Given the responsibilities and obligations that each has with regard to children under their control, to say that one is a mandatory reporter and the other isn’t is, in my opinion, a distinction without a difference."

A bill has been introduced in the New York State Senate that could broaden the scope of the law, and require every profession listed on the state’s list of mandatory reporters to report abuse by those in a “position of authority and of trust to a child.” The bill awaits a sponsor in the state Assembly.

The national Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, and promotes citizenship, outdoor activity and life skills. There are approximately 2,100 scouts in the Dutchess District, according to the Hudson Valley Council’s website.

Volunteers are mandated by the Boy Scouts of America to report claims of sexual abuse “immediately” to local authorities, according to the organization's website. But, two months before one Dutchess County scout told his mother that he had been abused on a camping trip in August 2014 by an assistant scoutmaster, Salt Point's Michael Kelsey, he confided in a different scoutmaster during a hiking trip in October 2014, according to testimony made during Kelsey's trial this past May.

VIDEO: Abuse in local Boy Scouts troop raises questions of accountability

Though the Boy Scouts of America took action against Kelsey, removing him from the organization, it did not alert police. According to state police Senior Investigator Timothy Peets: "The Boy Scout organization never reported anything until after they were confronted by the parents of the victims."

A representative from the national organization declined to answer why it didn't follow its own policy. David Horton, the CEO of the organization's Hudson Valley Council, did not respond to attempts to seek comment via phone or email.

After the boy's mother contacted police, Kelsey was arrested, tried and convicted on five charges related to sexual abuse of two scouts. His sentencing is scheduled for October.

Few criminal charges filed

Every state has laws regarding reporting child abuse. But, few cases involving Boy Scout volunteers are tried in criminal court, according to Paul Mones, an attorney based in Los Angeles.

Mones has represented victims and their families in civil cases against the Boy Scouts throughout the country for more than a decade, but he is not aware of cases in the United States in which Scout officials have been charged for failing to report the sexual abuse of a scout.

Mones said it is “extremely rare” that the alleged abuser had a case tried in a criminal court, with most resulting in settlements. Child victims of sexual abuse typically do not have the strength to go forward with reporting abuse and confronting their abuser in a criminal trial, Mones said, which can be “emotionally damaging.”

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: “Children can be at risk of sexual abuse anywhere access and opportunity presents such as: at home; at a neighbor’s house; at school, field trips, and public events; and in Scouting. A common misconception about sexual abuse is that children are most likely to be abused by strangers. In fact, a sex offender is usually someone the child knows and trusts. Sex offenders are most often male, but females also can be offenders.”

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.

In the Journal’s review of the documents, the files show as many as 500 alleged male abusers and a few women involved in acts with boys. Some abusers targeted more than one boy. Some abusers were let back in on a probationary basis after sexual abuse reports or were relocated to become leaders at other troops.

Two instances of sexual abuse by Boy Scout leaders from Dutchess County were among the 110 from New York included in the files.

In a case file from 1967, a 22-year-old Hopewell Junction assistant scoutmaster was banned from scouting because he reportedly raped a 3-year-old girl.

In 1980, a former Red Hook scoutmaster pleaded guilty at age 46 to sodomizing two Boy Scouts, ages 13 and 14. According to the files, the boys were sodomized on several times between October 1978 and May 1979 on the way home from scout meetings in Dutchess County.

Mandatory reporting

Each state has laws regarding mandatory reporting of physical and sexual abuse of a child. Of the 48 states that designate mandated reporters by profession, 18 also require the general public to report abuse if there is reason to suspect it, according to ChildWelfare.gov, a federally funded website that offers information on child-welfare issues, including laws and policies regarding reporting abuse. New Jersey and Wyoming do not designate professional groups, but require everyone, including the general public, to report child abuse, according to laws listed on ChildWelfare.gov.

In addition to the nearly 40 professions listed as mandatory reporters, New York law states that “any other person who has reasonable cause to suspect that a child is abused or maltreated may report.” However, there is no language to suggest that everyone is required to report suspicions of abuse.

Some mandatory reporters listed in New York State include teachers, social workers and child day-care workers. Directors, employees and volunteers that provide organized activities for children, such as camps, day camps, youth centers and recreation centers, are required to report in 13 states, including New York.

Some attorneys question why Boy Scout leaders and volunteers, who may regularly attend overnight camping trips with boys, are not on the state’s list. Tennessee and Oregon are the only states that specifically names Boy or Girl Scouts volunteers as mandatory reporters.

According to New York state law, mandatory reporters who fail to report a crime of sexual abuse can be found guilty of a class A misdemeanor, punishable for no less than 15 days to no more than one year in prison.

Kelsey's conviction

Kelsey, a 38-year-old attorney, was convicted of crimes against two 15-year-old Dutchess County Boy Scouts that occurred during a Boy Scout camping trip Aug. 13-20, 2014.

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, some of whom Kelsey called his “brothers” in court, 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.

But, he was hiding a disturbing secret.

In a recorded phone call played for the jury at St. Lawrence County Court, Kelsey said he fought “thoughts” about boys.

One boy testified that Kelsey touched his groin for 10-20 minutes while he slept next to him in a car. The other teen testified Kelsey reached inside his pants in attempt to touch his groin before the boy swatted his hand away.

During the trial, Kelsey admitted to breaking the Boy Scouts’ “two-deep” rule, by sleeping next to boys in his car without another scout leader present. He also said he contacted scouts directly via text message.

According to the Boy Scouts of America's Youth Protection guidelines, “A red flag might be a person who violates the BSA’s Youth Protection policy of no one-on-one contact and seeks one-on-one contact with youth in or out of scouting.”

But, Kelsey’s behavior went unchecked until he was removed from his post in October 2014.

On May 12 of this year, Kelsey was convicted in St. Lawrence County Court on charges 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.

St. Lawrence District Attorney Mary Rain has said she will seek the maximum penalty of 11 years in the case.

Response from the Scouts

In a statement to the Journal published on Dec. 16, 2014, Horton said the Hudson Valley Council became aware in October 2014 of the accusations that Kelsey sexually abused one scout and attempted to sexually abuse another and revoked Kelsey's membership: “Upon learning of these allegations, we took immediate action to remove this individual and preclude him from any further participation in the scouting program.”

When asked for comment for this article, the Boy Scouts of America replied via an emailed statement that read, “We are not scheduling interviews at this time.” And, instead, the organization provided Horton’s remarks from 2014:

“The behavior included in these allegations runs counter to everything for which the BSA stands. 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 at that time. 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.”

But, according that his statement, made in December 2014, Horton did not follow the guidelines listed on the Hudson Valley Youth Council website: “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. No person may abdicate this reporting responsibility to any other person.”

The Boy Scouts of America also stated, “Today, the BSA 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.”

Both families of the two victims in the criminal trial against Kelsey declined to comment on whether they will pursue civil cases against the Boy Scouts of America.

Changing the Law

Sen. Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park, introduced a bill in the state Senate before the end of the last legislative session that would require the state’s list of mandatory reporters to report abuse by those in a “position of authority and of trust to a child.” When the legislative session resumes January, Serino said she will find a co-sponsor of the bill from the Assembly.

The bill would “close a significant gap” in the law, Serino said. The law would give law enforcement 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.

Serino said she was motivated to write the bill after reading the Journal's coverage of the Kelsey trial.

“I served on the Dutchess County Legislature with (Kelsey), so I was shocked when this came out,” Serino said. “And it was so unsettling as a mom. My son is 26 now, but he was in Boy Scouts for years. I couldn’t imagine something like this happening. I think about those two brave Boy Scouts that came out and that took a lot of courage for them to come out and report what happened to them.”

Twenty-two states already have mandatory reporting laws in place that include a person in a position of trust or authority, according to Serino.

Some area residents were surprised to learn that there are gaps in the law.

“Counselors, teachers or camp directors have just as much influence in a child’s life as those who are ‘legally responsible,’’ City of Poughkeepsie resident Thomas McLain, 51, said. “It is absurd how this law is written. It needs to be expanded to include those in a position of authority.”

NY Senate Bill S8151, Sue Serino

It’s a first step, she said, in widening the scope of the law. Research from ChildWelfare.gov shows that nearly half of sexual abuse victims are under the age of 18. According to the National Institute of Justice, three out of four adolescents who have been sexually assaulted were victimized by someone they knew. Sixty percent of those who have sexually abused children turn out to be individuals known to the child, but are not family members, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 2014, there were 16 abused children for every 1,000 in Dutchess County, according to the Child Abuse Prevention Center.

"Child safety needs to be our highest priority and clearly our law needs to be strengthened to reflect that," Serino said. "Currently, mandated reporters are only required to report abuse by those with familial relationships to a child. I am actively pursuing an Assembly sponsor for the bill, and I most certainly plan to continue to fight to see its passage."

Amanda J. Purcell: apurcell@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4807; Twitter: @amandajpurcell