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Boy Scouts Facing Over 82,000 Sexual Abuse Allegations, File For Bankruptcy

(Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Weibel Contributor
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The Boys Scouts of America (BSA) is facing more than 82,000 claims of sexual abuse allegations against some of the organizations scout leaders, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

The organization filed for bankruptcy earlier in 2020 under the Chapter 11 filing, as previously reported. This process established a deadline of Monday, Nov. 16 for victims to come forward with their claims, at which point the victims’ claims will be systematically vetted, per the The New York Times.

The number of sexual abuse claims are expected to surpass the number of abuse allegations brought against the Catholic Church, per the same report.

The BSA organization said they were “devastated by the number of lives impacted by past abuse in Scouting” in a statement reported by The New York Times. “The response we have seen from survivors has been gut wrenching,” the BSA continued. “We are deeply sorry.”

Paul Mones is a lawyer who has worked on many cases involving the Boy Scouts, per the report. Mones told the Times that the amount of cases being filed in regards to sexual abuse is astounding to him, and that these cases might just scratch the surface of the amount of victims there actually are. (RELATED: Friendly’s Files For Bankruptcy Again, Says Pandemic Hurt Recovery Efforts)

“I knew there were a lot of cases,” said Mones, per the report. “I never contemplated it would be a number close to this.”

The Boy Scouts of America claims somewhere around 2.2 million members. In recent years, membership has been slowly declining. One of their recent moves, possibly in order to boost membership, included adding girls to their organization.