“We are deeply sorry.”Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts grew under a rare congressional charter in 1916 that detailed scouting values of “patriotism, courage, self-reliance and kindred virtues” — goals that shaped the civic ideals for generations of American boys. While the Boy Scouts count some 2.2 million current members, those numbers have been on the decline from a peak of around five million in the 1970s. In 2017, the organization expanded to allow girls to participate, although that effort has frayed relationships with the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. But even in the organization’s early years, abuse files maintained at the Boy Scouts headquarters detailed troubles. That includes New York, which approved a one-year window that opened last year, prompting a stream of new lawsuits with defendants from organizations such as schools, the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts.

Source: New York Times November 15, 2020 17:27 UTC