17 Men, 2 Women File Sex Abuse Suit Against Conn. Boy Scouts Chapters
STAMFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Seventeen men and two women are suing the Boy Scouts of America and affiliated chapters in Connecticut in what could be the largest-ever sex abuse suit against the organization.
The suit alleges that former Ridgefield scoutmaster Donald Dennis abused the defendants when they were children in the 1960s and 1970s, WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported.
"Some of them turned to drugs and alcohol as a result. Some of them can't hold a marriage together," Brooke Goff, their lawyer, said.
One defendant claimed Dennis abused him more than 1,000 times.
"He's being generous with saying 1,000 times," Goff said.
Dennis, who was also an auxiliary trooper, can't answer to these charges. He died two years ago.
The lawsuit filed in state court in Stamford last month claims Boy Scout leaders knew or should have known that Ridgefield Scoutmaster Dennis was a danger to the scouts in his troops and did nothing to protect them
Named in the lawsuit are the national Boy Scouts organization, the Fairfield County Council and the Connecticut Yankee Council.
Goff said she is not putting a dollar amount on the lawsuit yet. The lawyer representing the Boy Scouts of America told Silverman that he cannot comment on the case.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
