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Archives > Volume 9 Issue 2 - January 12, 2011 Boy Scouts want "perversion files" kept secret...An attorney for the Boy Scouts of America told the Oregon Supreme Court on Tuesday that 20 years worth of so-called "perversion files" should be kept secret despite a trial judge's order to open them. AP story from The Washington Post here 
Multnomah County Circuit Judge John Wittmayer had ruled the Boy Scouts' ineligible volunteer files, from 1965 to 1985, could be used in court, and in June, he ruled that they should be opened to the public. The Boy Scouts of America appealed and the files have remained sealed pending the legal review.
The files keep track of suspected pedophiles and others who violate the Boy Scouts of America's rules in an effort to keep them from volunteering again. The circuit court said 1,247 files could be released, of which more than 1,000 involve allegations of child abuse. The only other time the documents are believed to have been presented at a trial was in the 1980s in Virginia. A lawyer for news organizations suing to release the records, including The Associated Press, argued the judge acted correctly. Charles Hinkle said anything introduced in court should be considered a public record. "Once something is admitted into evidence, that becomes part of the public's business," Hinkle said. The news organizations intervened on behalf of six plaintiffs, who sued the Boy Scouts, the organization's Cascade Pacific Council and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for sex abuse they suffered by an assistant Scoutmaster in the 1980s. The media organizations filed a petition with the Oregon Supreme Court that argued for the release of the files without a review and asked for the files in unredacted form. The Boy Scouts also petitioned the state Supreme Court, challenging the release of the files. The Scouts argue that opening the files could unfairly affect those who are named in the files but were never convicted of abuse, as well as prejudice potential jurors in future trials. They face at least two more lawsuits. The Supreme Court combined the media and Boy Scouts petitions. A coalition of crime-victim advocates and abuse survivors networks argued in a brief that the release of the files will help society recognize and prevent abuse, but it argued against the media companies' request to include the names of the alleged victims. A trade association that represents major multinationals including Microsoft Corp. and Boeing Co. has argued in a brief that the court should rule for the Boy Scouts. A ruling against them, the association argues, would leave no judicial protection of trade secrets and make companies afraid to do business in Oregon. Pittsburgh Pilot program uses GPS to track sex offenders... More than 1,100 registered sex offenders live and work in Allegheny County and 43 of them are now wearing monitoring devices as a condition of their parole. 
District Attorney Stephen Zappala blames the nature of the crime for the need to better track these offenders.
"Because the psychology of the crime of the criminal actually is, they will re-offend and so we're looking at persons who are recidivists," Zappala said. As long as the offenders stay in the inclusion area, they're OK, but if they travel into an exclusion area, police are notified immediately. "Exclusion zones for example [are] schools, daycares, playgrounds, facilities where children congregate for those sex offenders," John Hudson, a security consultant, said. "We've identified in their red zones. If an offender with a device goes into one of the red zones, an exclusion zone, we'll be notified immediately." "On the policing side, it's really important for the community to know that once these bracelets are put on these guys the police can watch them 24/7," Zappala. KDKA's Bob Allen tested the system by putting on a bracelet and driving to the Woodland Hills High School parking lot in Churchill. The system tracked him the whole way down the Parkway East to the school. Within 30 seconds after driving on school property, the pager went off warning him he was in an exclusion zone. The GPS system worked. In a real situation, any convicted sex offender wearing a bracelet and caught in one of the red zones would be arrested and possibly sent back to prison. "These particular offenders we know where they are 24/7, the police patrol with purpose," Zappala said. "If you have children especially, I think that's really significant." In other news... 
Young people crave boosts to their self-esteem more than sex and money, according to a new study. MSNBC story here Researchers from Ohio State University and Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York found that college students rated receiving compliments, or doing well on a test, above such pleasurable activities such as sex, receiving a paycheck, seeing a friend, or eating their favorite food. Brad Bushman, a professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University, said the findings should raise red flags about the role of self-esteem in society. "It wouldn't be correct to say that the study participants were addicted to self-esteem," said Bushman, who headed the research team. "But they were closer to being addicted to self-esteem than they were to being addicted to any other activity we studied." He said he and his team were shocked by the findings. The study appears in The Journal of Personality.
Two Florida men have been charged with assaulting teenagers in a church, thanks to a whistle-blower's tip. AP story here 
The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, with oversight of churches in Delaware and part of Maryland, offered to pay $74 million to end about 150 sexual-abuse lawsuits and exit bankruptcy. Bloomberg story here The proposal would pay most of those who claim to have been sexually assaulted by a priest an average of $750,000, the diocese said in its proposal, filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Under a previous offer, victims would have been paid about $349,000, on average. For more information on clergy abuse, visit eGuide/clergyabuse
A 27-year-old man employed at day-care centres in Amsterdam has confessed to sexually abusing 83 children, the Dutch prosecuting service says, a month after his arrest. The Age story here *for access to member only sites like the New York Times, use the ID "JohnDoeID" and the password "whatever". On sites asking for an email address, feel free to use "info@childprotectionprogram.org" |
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