Boy Scouts Found Guilty in Sex Abuse Case

Jurors today found the Boy Scouts of America negligent and awarded $1.4 million to a man who was abused by an assistant Scoutmaster in the early 1980s. The jury also decided the organization was liable for up to $25 million in punitive damages—the exact amount will be decided in the second phase of the trial. The Scouts plan to appeal.

The trial drew attention because the group's so-called "perversion files" were used as evidence. The confidential files keep track of people kicked out for sex abuse and other reasons. Lawyers for Kerry Lewis, 38, argued the Boy Scouts organization was reckless for allowing Timur Dykes to continue to associate with the victim's troop after he acknowledged molesting 17 youths. (More Boy Scouts of America stories.)