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Archives > Volume 8 Issue 30 - April 27, 2010 Jury punishes Boy Scouts 18.5 million times...An Oregon jury on Friday found the Boy Scouts of America liable for the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy more than 25 years ago, returning a verdict of $18.5 million in punitive damages. CNN story here 
The plaintiff, Kerry Lewis, now 38, allowed his name to be used publicly during the trial, according to his attorneys. He is among six men suing the Boy Scouts over allegations of sexual abuse.
Attorney Kelly Clark has said that when his clients were boys during the 1980s, the organization knew that at least one of them had been abused by former assistant Scoutmaster Timur Dykes. The 53-year-old convicted sex offender was released from prison in 2005 and paroled until 2013. He could not be reached on Friday. Clark also alleged that though the scout leader was removed, he was allowed to stay on as a volunteer and the abuse continued. In 1983, Dykes told troop leaders he abused 17 scouts, according to plaintiff's attorneys. During the six-week trial, Clark produced documents that he said were part of an archive of previously secret Boy Scout files that chronicled decades of abuse of boys. Earlier this month, jurors in Portland awarded Lewis $1.4 million after finding that the organization was negligent in allowing a Scout leader who was a sex offender to have contact with him. Under Oregon law, 60 percent of a punitive damages award goes to the state's crime victims' fund. For more on this story, see vol8_iss21, vol8_iss22, vol8_iss25, vol8_iss27, and vol8_iss29. Polanski appeal rejected... With his latest appeal rejected, Roman Polanski's fate once again lies in the hands of Swiss authorities. FindLaw.com story here 
A California appeals court on Thursday rejected Polanski's bid to have his case reviewed by a special counsel or to be sentenced in absentia.
Swiss Justice Ministry officials had been waiting for the court's ruling before deciding whether to allow the Oscar-winning director to be returned to Los Angeles for sentencing on his 33-year-old sex case. Polanski has been under house arrest for months at his chalet in the luxury resort of Gstaad as his attorneys repeatedly sought to win the director's freedom in Los Angeles courtrooms. They have argued repeatedly that Polanski shouldn't have to be present to be sentenced on one count of unlawful sexual intercourse. In their latest appeal, they argued that he should be sentenced to time served. The recent appeal focused on newly obtained testimony from a former prosecutor who felt the original judge handling Polanski's case acted improperly. That testimony remains sealed. The California 2nd District Court of Appeal dismissed Polanski's opinion without issuing an opinion. They also dismissed a petition by Polanski's victim, Samantha Geimer, to have the case dismissed. The Swiss will only extradite Polanski to the United States if he receives a sentence longer than six months, Swiss Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli said last month. It remains unclear how quickly the Swiss will rule on Polanski's extradition, although Galli has said a decision usually comes within a year of a person's arrest. Polanski was arrested in late September. The director could still seek to end the case in California by appealing to the state Supreme Court. His attorneys declined comment Thursday and have not indicated what their next step will be. Polanski was accused in 1977 of plying Geimer, then age 13, with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill, then raping her at Jack Nicholson's house. Polanski was indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molesting and sodomy. He later pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse. Authorities are seeking Polanski's extradition from Switzerland so he can be sentenced on the charge. The Academy Award-winning director fled the United States on the eve of sentencing in 1978. His attorneys have said he fled because the judge handling the case planned to send Polanski back to prison even though he had completed a diagnostic study ordered by the court. Polanski's attorneys have cited numerous instances of apparent misconduct in the case by the judge, who is now dead. The appeals court and a lower court judge have said there are indications of serious misconduct in how the case was handled, but neither has ordered an evidentiary hearing that could resolve the matter. See vol7_iss77, vol8_iss5, and vol8_iss7 for more on this story. In other news... 
American missionary Laura Silsby will stand trial in Haiti on a charge of arranging irregular travel, a judge ruled Monday, but more serious charges against her and nine fellow missionaries were dropped. CNN story here Judge Bernard Saint-Vil dropped kidnapping and criminal association charges against Silsby and nine other missionaries who were stopped while trying to take 33 Haitian children out of the country after a devastating earthquake rocked Haiti in January. People convicted of arranging irregular travel face from six months to three years in prison. Silsby's nine fellow missionaries were released from detention and returned to the United States weeks ago, but Silsby has remained behind bars in Haiti. The judge ruled that Silsby and Jeant Saint-Vil, a Haitian-American pastor who is not related to the judge, will stand trial on the charge of arranging irregular travel, but it was not immediately clear when the trial would take place. The judge's decision means that the nine other missionaries no longer face any charges in Haiti. For more, see vol8_iss9, vol8_iss10, vol8_iss11, vol8_iss14, and vol8_iss15.
A former Texas youth jail administrator has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage inmate. AP story here Jurors spent more than an hour deliberating Friday before handing down the sentence for Ray Edward Brookins. Brookins was convicted Thursday of abusing the then-18-year-old inmate at the Texas Youth Commission's West Texas State School in 2004. Prosecutors had asked for the maximum 20-year sentence. Assistant Attorney General Ralph Guerrero told jurors that Brookins treated the young offenders under his watch "like human sex toys." Brookins denied ever sexually assaulting anyone. The case ignited a statewide scandal that prompted Texas lawmakers to order a radical overhaul of the juvenile prison system. See vol5_iss17, vol5_iss18, vol5_iss19, vol5_iss26, vol5_iss29, and vol5_iss39 for more on this story.
A USA Swimming coach pleaded no contest today to having sex with one of his underage star swimmers, the latest case of sexual misconduct by coaches that is rocking the swim world. ABC News story here Jesse Stovall, 37, was sentenced in an Orlando, Florida courtroom to four years probation on a second degree felony charge of sexual activity with a 16 or 17 year-old and will be required to register permanently as a sex offender. "He was using his status as her coach to groom her for a relationship that was clearly outside that of a coach/athlete," prosecutor Ryan Vescio told ABC News. A recent ABC News "20/20" investigation revealed that some 36 coaches have been banned for life by USA Swimming over the last decade because of alleged sexual misconduct. USA Swimming said Stovall has been banned for life from coaching since the incident. Part 1 of the 20/20 investigation. Part 2 of the 20/20 investigation. The crime occurred when Stovall, then a coach for the Berkeley, California Bear swimming team, took the 16-year-old swimmer to Orlando for a week-long swim meet in March 2008. For more on this story, see vol8_iss26, vol8_iss27, and vol8_iss29.
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