SEBASTIAN COUNTY, Ark. — A lawsuit has been filed against the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club (BGC) and a local boy scout council by someone that was allegedly raped as a child by boy scout leaders in the 1950s.
Court documents say the lawsuit was filed on Jan. 17, 2024, by a Louisiana man who has chosen to remain anonymous and is referred to as John Doe.
The suit is filed against the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, the Natural State Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Westark Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The suit acknowledges that Westark Area Council merged with the Quapaw Area Council in December 2023 to form what is now known as the Natural State Council.
At the time of the incident, Westark and Natural State managed and controlled a scout "district" in Sebastian County.
The suit says that Doe was a child living in Fort Smith at the time of the events and participated in a Boy Scout troop operated by the defendants and sponsored by the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, then known as the Fort Smith Boys Club.
As a member of the troop, Doe participated in a scouts baseball team at the Fort Smith BGC.
The complaint details that when Doe was 11 or 12 years old, in the summer of either 1954 or 1955, a scout baseball game had just concluded at the Fort Smith BGC when he was pinned down by two men, who Doe believes were his coaches.
"Following the game, the scouts went into the locker room at the Fort Smith Boys Club to take a shower and get dressed," the suit said. "Plaintiff was the last one in the shower, when two men came at him from behind and grabbed him and held him down."
The complaint said Doe tried to fight, but the two men were older and bigger than him, and they proceeded to sexually assault him. Doe believes the men were related to scouts and potentially planned the alleged assault.
"Plaintiff believes that the men who abused him were related to the boy scouts because the only people in the locker room at the time of the incident were related to the boy scouts," the complaint said. "Plaintiff also believes that the two men planned this and seemed to know what they were doing, and they must have done this before to other children. Plaintiff believes that it was the assistant coach or coach of his team."
The lawsuit accuses the Natural State Council and the Fort Smith BGC for negligence, as they had the power to "Appoint, supervise, monitor, restrict, and fire each person working with children within the defendant's scouting programs," adding that all adult scout leaders and volunteers were approved by the defendants.
Fort Smith BGC is accused in the lawsuit of failing to train or supervise leaders— including Doe's alleged abusers— by allowing them "complete and uncontrolled access" to minors and giving them authority over policies and activities that led to Doe's abuse.
The lawsuit goes on to claim the defendants recruited and accepted Doe's abusers as "coaches, leaders, volunteers, scoutmasters, and/or assistant scoutmasters" without taking reasonable measures to check their background before allowing them around children.
"Defendants knew or should have known that these abusers would be in a position of trust, confidence and authority over the youth involved, including the plaintiff. As a result, plaintiff was conditioned to trust his abusers, to comply with their directions, and to respect their authority. This course of conduct is referred to in this complaint as 'grooming,'" the lawsuit said.
"Defendants are vicariously liable for the sexual abuse committed by their agent, servant, and/or employees," the complaint added. "Defendants knew or should have had knowledge that the scout leader and volunteer positions were being used by predatory child molesters to gain access to and victimize children, including the plaintiff."
The suit cites that Boy Scouts of America had an institution-wide child abuse problem, adding that Doe believes local councils "received reports of other adult male scout leaders using their positions of trust and authority to groom and abuse boy scouts."
"Beginning as early as 1920, the Boys Scouts of America regularly received reports and information from its local councils and agents of adult scouting volunteers and professional scouters sexually abusing scouts," the suit said.
The suit explains that the Boy Scouts of America organization is not a party in the suit but controls the local boy scouts councils, which includes the defendants.
The complaint alleges the defendants created a danger to Doe when they failed to warn his parents of the risk of child molestation inherent to the scouting program, failed to implement child sex abuse policies, and failed to change its process for selecting scout leaders.
"If warnings had been issued, or if more comprehensive child sexual abuse or leader-monitoring policies had been in place, plaintiff would have been protected from the sexual abuse," the complaint said.
The lawsuit says Doe still suffers "debilitating and severe physical, mental, and emotional injury."
Causes of action listed in the suit include sexual battery of a child, false imprisonment, multiple counts of negligence, fraud, reckless disregard, and invasion of privacy, among others.
The suit lists compensatory damages above $75,000 and punitive damages over $75,000.
5NEWS reached out to both parties for comment. While the plaintiff and counsel for the Westark Council and Natural State Council have not yet responded, the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club gave the following response:
“Fort Smith Boys & Girls Clubs (FSBGC) will never stop working to keep kids safe, and we take any allegation that might impact the well-being of the young people entrusted to our care very seriously. We are aware of a civil claim recently filed against our organization regarding allegations of abuse on FSBGC premises (formerly Wheeler Boys Club) nearly 70 years ago that involve a former Boy Scouts of America volunteer. We remain both shocked and deeply concerned by this extremely serious matter as crimes of abuse run counter to everything our mission stands for - no harm should come to any child under any circumstance. Our hearts are with the victim and their family.
"Fort Smith Boys & Girls Clubs is committed to the highest standards of ethical behavior and integrity and does not tolerate inappropriate or illegal activity on the part of any staff member, volunteer, or youth member. All employees must undergo a thorough criminal background check prior to hire and annually, and all supervisory procedures are designed to ensure the maximum safety and protection of Club members and staff."
As this is an active lawsuit, we are unable to offer further comment. Our commitment to our Club youth, their families, and our community is unwavering.” – Beth Presley, CEO, Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club
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