Investigation Details Scouting Groups’ Inaction on Serial Abuser

Scouting officials in Southern California and British Columbia failed to report multiple molestations by a troop leader in the 1970s and ‘80s, allowing the man to continue using the organization to meet boys, according to a Los Angeles Times and Canadian Broadcasting Company investigation.

Boy Scouts of America officials in Orange County, Calif., dismissed Rick Turley in 1979 after he admitted molesting three Scouts but did not contact police. Scouts Canada acted similarly after uncovering abuse allegations in the mid-1980s, the news outlets report, citing court files, confidential Scouting records, and interviews with Mr. Turley and victims.

Mr. Turley reportedly molested at least 15 boys over two decades. He was arrested in the mid-1990s after an acquaintance told police in Canada he had discussed his attraction to boys, and he served two prison terms.

“We were following exactly the national recommendations of the Boy Scouts of America and its board who set up the rules,” said A. Buford Hill Jr., a former executive with the Orange County Scouts organization. “You do not want to broadcast to the entire population that these things happen. You take care of it quietly and make sure it never happens again.”

Current U.S. and Canadian national Scouting officials declined to be interviewed. In recent decades, both groups have instituted policies such as criminal background checks and multiple leaders for troop activities to prevent abuse.