LAWYERS.COM, NATIONAL LEGAL BLOG
Christopher T. Hurley, managing partner of Chicago-based firm [[title]], discussed how the doctrine of fraudulent concealment essentially resets the statute of limitations and gives plaintiffs five years to file suit once they discover that information was covered up by a potentially liable party. “The only defense is that they waited too long to bring the suit,” he says. “Our response to that is, you were in a position of trust for these boys and you have a duty under the law to tell them the truth.”
The smoking gun, as it were, came when the BSA was forced by a judge last fall to release its “perversion files” in which it kept records of men who were considered ineligible to volunteer due to various sexual offenses. Hacker made the list, with good cause. The BSA, however, falsely claimed that they did not have a file on him when he was on trial in 1989, among other omissions, coverups and acts of negligence.
“They knew for more than 10 years he was a convicted child molester and they let him in the troop anyway,” Hurley says.
“The Boy Scouts have known they have a problem with pedophiles working their way into this organization for over 100 years. Their answer was to keep secret files. That’s part of the problem, not the solution,” the attorney continues. “Keeping a secret is what pedophiles count on and that’s how they get away with it. Scouts need to be much more proactive with information about the frequency with which pedophiles target their group.”
