Boy Scouts: Suspected pedophiles will be reported to police

GlobalPost

The Boy Scouts of America says it now plans to report the suspected pedophiles named in the so-called "perversion files" to authorities.

In August, the organization took a lot of criticism after a Los Angeles Times review of internal documents revealed more than 125 cases in which men suspected of molesting Scouts allegedly continued with their troops, despite a blacklist exposing them as sexual predators.

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Until now, the Scouts argued they did all they could to prevent sexual abuse in their ranks by tracking sexual predators and using those records to keep offenders out.

But Scouts spokesman Deron Smith told The Associated Press the organization now plans to review the files and report any offenders who may have fallen through the cracks.

A court-ordered release of the perversion files from 1965 to 1985 is expected sometime in October, according to the AP.

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The LA Times review of more than 1,200 of the files from 1970 to 1991 found a number of suspected abusers regularly remained in the organization even after officials were first presented with sexual misconduct allegations.

Some falsified their identities, while others took advantage of clerical errors and computer glitches to turn up at other Boy Scout troops.

In at least 50 cases, the Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only to discover they had re-entered the program and were accused of molesting again.

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