CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — A little more than a year after the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy, sex abuse survivors are objecting to the organization’s bankruptcy exit plans.
Child sex abuse victims have the power to approve or disapprove of the Boy Scouts’ financial plan to come out of bankruptcy.
Nearly 95,000 claims of abuse were filed against the scouts. The cost of settling those claims could be upwards of $100 billion.
Part of the victims’ objection includes the bankruptcy judge redacting their stories. They say that prevents the public from understanding the full extent of the alleged abuse.
The organization recently issued a statement saying, “The Boy Scouts of America filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy to achieve two key imperatives: equitably compensate survivors who were harmed during their time in scouting and continue to carry out scouting’s mission for years to come.”
Tim Kosnoff, one of many attorneys who is involved in this case, said the situation is currently “a colossal mess.”
“The survivors… are angry, are frustrated. Their emotions are boiling over and they’re hurt. And they feel that they haven’t been listened to…that they’ve been marginalized by this court,” said Kosnoff.
Abuse survivors have been submitting letters to the court recounting their experiences with the Boy Scouts. According to Kosnoff, the judge has not read these letters and told a clerk to instead “arbitrarily” redact the letters.
“But they’re writing to the court because they want the court to read them. And they want the public to hear their accounts of what happened because they’ve been accused of being liars and frauds…making it up,” said Kosnoff.
Kosnoff said more than 95% of all filings, in this case, are the letters from abuse survivors. He says that adds up to hundreds of letters.