All language subtitles for Leave No Trace 2022

[ Clicking ]

Kris:
I got mad and I punched a wall

in my, like... my freshman
or eighth-grade year.

I used to have
really bad outbursts.

It’s just a natural impulse
for me

just to get mad
and smack something because,

like, punching a pillow
or punching a bed

isn’t the same
as punching something solid.

´Cause when you punch
something solid,

you feel your anger
just kind of leave

when you punch something
because you relieve it

by hitting something.

And it causes damage.

And it’s really annoying
that I do it.

And I hate that I do it.

I hate it a lot.

And I still have my mer...

Ugh. My merit badge.

You do, like, special things
in the Scouts,

and you get a special patch
for it.

That’s from fishing.

That’s leatherworking, I think.
Archery.

Archery was really fun for me
because I was the only one

out of my group
that made a bull’s-eye.

So, this is what our troop was

before we had to change it.

"420" kind of stands for a stuff.

And having that
in a Boy Scout organization

is not kind of the best thing
you want to have.

Getting in fights
almost every day

with my parents
is kind of exhausting.

And getting somewhere that’s not
exactly a better environment,

but a place with less fights.

You’re kind of
just trading one...

You’re trading one evil
for another.

And I traded fighting
for what happened,

which I would take fighting over
any day.

[ Melodic piano music ]

♪♫

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Piano and strings,
music building ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ Strings become more prominent
with piano, music building ]

♪♪

[ Music becomes more dramatic,
strings, piano speed increase ]

♪♪

[ Strings reach climax and drop
off, while piano fades out ]

On my honor, I will do my best

to do my duty to God
and my country

and to obey the Scout Law,

to help other people
at all times,

to keep myself
physically strong,

mentally awake,
and morally straight.

[ Band playing patriotic march,
horns most prominent]

[ Applause ]

Sit down, boys.
[ Laughter ]

Scouting has worked.

It’s based on cooperation.

You know what that means.

It’s based on
the spirit of service.

And it’s going to work.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Strahan: Now to that breaking
news involving the Boy Scouts.

Male reporter: ...a program
whose stated mission

is to teach young people
ethical and moral values.

Female reporter: It’s been
an American institution

for more than a hundred years.

Male reporter:
...its assets of $1.4 billion,

including land
for camping and hiking.

The Boy Scouts of America
facing a crisis tonight.

The 110-year-old organization
filing for bankruptcy.

Their bankruptcy filing
early today

is the only way they can deal

with a growing number
of sexual-abuse lawsuits.

[ Up-tempo music plays, fades ]

Rosenblatt: Hi, Nigel.
My name is Rachel Rosenblatt.

I work with
the Boy Scouts of America.

I understand you’re doing
research about the organization

and just wanted to see how
we can be helpful, et cetera.

So if you could give me a call
back at your convenience,

that would be great.

[ Line ringing ]

Hello. This is Rachel.

Hey, Rachel.
This is Nigel Jaquiss.

Hey. How are you?

I’m alright. Thanks.
How about you?
I’m good. Thanks.

Just wanted to hear
what you’re working on

so we can see
how we can be helpful.

Sure. First of all,
the Boy Scouts

have touched almost every
household in this country.

And there’s a tremendous
interest in this organization.

It’s...
It is apple pie.

You know, it’s...
it’s baseball.

It’s Mom. It’s 4th of July.
It’s the American flag.

It’s Norman Rockwell.
It’s everything.

And what we want to do
is make sure

you have
the information right.
Yeah.

That is in everybody’s
best interest.
Absolutely.

Look, I’m aware that there have
been 130 million Boy Scouts

over the course
of the institution’s history,

and the vast majority
of those Boy Scouts

were not sexually abused.

But, you know,
I’m not gonna sugarcoat it.

There’s a lot of damage
that’s been done.

We really want a candid
explanation, from the people

who were involved
in the decision-making,

how this happened.

So that’s my ask.

I don’t think you are,
like, a "gotcha" guy,

but I don’t want
to set somebody up

where they’re being asked like,
"Well, why didn’t you do more?"

It’s like, well,
nobody was doing more,

but there was
just not awareness

of the issues at that time.

Look.
I-I totally get the ask.

Jaquiss:
The Boy Scouts said

that these alleged cases
of abuse happened decades ago

and that Scouting was safe.

Throughout my career
as a reporter,

I’ve tried to come at stories
by asking,

well, is the narrative
that we’re being presented true?

Might there be
another narrative?

♪♪

I grew up in a very small town
in Southern Indiana

called New Harmony.

And in the town park
was this cool, old log cabin.

And I really looked forward
to when I would be old enough

to go to Boy Scout meetings
in that log cabin.

My parents were British.

They were older
than other people’s parents,

so we didn’t really fit in.

Well, one way we fit in
was being Boy Scouts.

I have three brothers.
All four of us were Scouts.

And I think I did absorb the
values that the Scouts teach,

to help other people
at all times, leave no trace,

always leaves things
better than you found them.

As corny as it sounds,
I did absorb that,

and I’ve tried to live my life
that way.

♪♪

Parents gave the Boy Scouts

the most valuable thing
they had... their children.

And the Boy Scouts told parents,
"You can trust us.

We know how to make your son
a man.

We will be good for your son."

This is an important message

for all current
and former Boy Scouts.

The Boy Scouts of America
has declared bankruptcy.

If you were sexually abused
in Scouting,

you could receive compensation.

You may file a sexual abuse
claim regardless of your...

Jaquiss:
When the Boy Scouts

declared bankruptcy
in February 2020,

the bankruptcy court judge
essentially said

anybody who has a sexual abuse
claim against the Boy Scouts

should now step forward.

And the numbers just kept
going up and up and up.

And it has been overwhelming for
everybody involved in the case.

Limpens:
I mean, is this... is this...

Have you talked
about this before?

I mean, is this
one of the first times

you've talked about this?

[ Keyboard clacking ]

Okay.

So can you... Are you...

I know this is uncomfortable
to talk about,

but can you tell me a little bit
about what he was doing?

That... That... That...
And was...

Mm-hmm.

I will get in touch with you

as soon as I get some feedback
from the attorneys.

Okay. Yeah, I will.
Alright. Thank you.

[ Printer whirring ]

I thought it was gonna take
at least four large notebooks.

And by mid-2017,

fewer letters of the alphabet
fit in one notebook.

And so, for example,

this is just "E" through "G,"
2018.

And if I were to go back
to do 2019,

I imagine that this would be
probably eight

of these very large
three-ring binders

just to fit everybody that
contacted us from that year.

♪♪

Crew: The Catholic Church
didn’t change

their child-protection policies

because they got
the Holy Spirit.

They changed their
child-protection policies

because they got sued.

And I believe the same
for the Boy Scouts.

I did commercial litigation
for probably 25 years

until I started working
on the Boy Scout cases.

Good girl.
There you go.

I know lots of Boy Scout
executives hate me

and hate my firm.

They were expecting
about 7,500 claimants,

but the volume is much higher.

The money that
they've put on the table,

it amounts to about $6,000
for each survivor.

So each one of our client
has to make a decision

what this plan means for them.

[ Insects chirping ]

Humphrey: Looks like you’re
ready to go, sis.

Okay. Move over.
Move over.

I know.
Here we go.

You ready?

[ Engine starts ]

It wasn't like we were

chained in some dungeon
somewhere being abused.

We were coaxed
into different situations

and, you know...

out-thought,
taken advantage of.

I mean, a predator
who's a grown man.

And a bunch of 12-year-olds?

We didn’t have a chance.
[ Engine shuts off ]

[ Duck call clicking ]

[ Duck call clicking ]

[ Duck call clicking ]

It was happening
on every campout.

It was happening
after chapter meetings.

It was happening
in schools and churches.

So, you know, it’s this contrast
between what everybody wants

to believe about the world
that we see...

And now looking in this lens
back through time, we see

that, well, maybe
it wasn't as perfect

as we all thought it was.

[ Geese honking ]

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal,

courteous, kind, obedient,

helpful, thrifty, brave,

clean, and reverent.

I’m pretty sure I missed
something in there, but...

"Obedient."

I think that’s the one that got
a lot of Scouts in trouble.

♪♪

This is probably me

in fifth, sixth,
and seventh grades.

♪♪

I spent those three years

being abused
by my teacher Ted Alton.

♪♪

I think back at all of the times

that I was abused
two, three, four times a week...

at troop meetings,
in the car after troop meetings,

in the jug-band practice room,

on the foam mats
in the locker room,

on camping trips,
winter trips, summer trips.

I mean, the first time
I ever ejaculated

was at the hands
of this Scoutmaster.

You know,
it slowly became clear to me

as I got older
and a little more mature

that something was wrong,
something wasn't right.

I wanted to run away from it
as fast and as hard as I could.

My hair fell out when I was 13,

and I’ve been bald ever since.

Honestly,
I’ve never put that together

until probably
the last two or three years.

Which... Which seems,
like, really silly

that, oh, you've been through
three years of abuse.

I mean, my abuse was over
200 times in that three years.

So, you know, the psyche
is an amazing thing.

We can bury thoughts
and actions and activities

that make us uncomfortable
as a preservation...

self-preservation
kind of a thing.

I think that’s
what happened to me.

And I locked it away,

never talked to anybody
for 50 years.

♪♪

I shut that door.

I never let that door open,
ever.

[ Birds calling ]

I had no idea
how rampant and pervasive

and how uncorrected it was.

You know, I thought this was
something that happened to me

and a few guys
when we were young.

Until I read an article

that had one of my classmates
in it.

I looked him up on LinkedIn,
sent him a message.

He called me
like 15 minutes later,

and we spent three hours
on the phone.

And that’s how I...
And then I, you know...

I decided at that point
that I needed to get involved.

♪♪

Where’s our team?

Man: Hey, Rich.

There he is.
Man #2: Hey, guys.

Chris,
how you doing, brother?

Chris: Hey, I’m good, everyone.
How y’all doing?

Awesome.
Good, good.

Jaquiss:
The people who are the victims

and who are suing the Scouts
come from all 50 states.

They don’t all have
the same lawyer.

Many of their lawyers

are completely at odds
with each other.

Jaquiss:
So they speak with one voice

through something called
the Tort Claimants´ Committee.

John Humphrey,
the Dallas businessman,

was elected to be their leader.

Who would have imagined

28,000 of them
would have been penetration?

I mean, it just...
Who would have imagined

there was $431 billion
of insurance?

I mean...nobody.

Jaquiss:
What this case boils down to

is the Boy Scouts negotiating
with victims,

trying to arrive at some kind
of negotiated settlement.

"How much are we going to
pay you and when?"

Man: I keep hearing
that the insurance companies

won't back the Boy Scouts
if they knew about the problem.

Man #2:
Those insurance companies

that don’t want
any part of this

are just going to litigate
the living fuck out of this...

Yeah.
That could happen.

You think so?
Yeah. Yeah.

Hey. Get some rest.
Alright, buddy.

Appreciate you.
Have a good evening. Take care.

♪♪

[ Exhales deeply ]

[ Bell clanging ]

Kris:
♪ O, say, can you see ♪

♪ By the dawn’s early light ♪

I know I can hear myself
being flat.

And that’s what I don’t like.

I’ve been singing the bass part

because there’s four
different parts to the song,

which when you hear it
all together,

it makes it sound good.

♪ Whose broad stripes
and bright stars ♪

♪ Through the perilous fight ♪

Yeah, I’m shaking, how nervous
I am singing in front of people.

[ Breathes deeply ]

Director:
Was Doug your Scoutmaster?

Kris:
He was everyone's Scoutmaster.

Right after he was arrested,

they started asking me stuff
about it.

I’ve blocked out so much of him

that I cannot really remember
what he’s like.

I can barely remember
what he looks like,

´cause I blocked him out
so much.

Part of me loves that.
I love that I blocked him out.

A lot that... I don’t remember
what he looks like.

I don’t remember how he acted.

I remember his smell,
and his smell was disgusting.

But I don’t really remember
a lot of other stuff about him.

Carolyn: You know something
is wrong or off, but...

You know,
he’s just not saying anything.

He keeps everything to himself.
He’s always been that way.

Um, couldn’t do anything
to help him,

but I knew something was wrong.

[ Breathes deeply ]

[ Wheels rolling ]

[ Somber piano music plays ]

♪♪

♪♪

He wanted to be
a police officer.

And he was told that

going through the Scouts
and everything

would be the best way to do it.

So that was his goal.

Matthew: She heard stories,
me telling her

about what it was like
when I was a Scout.
Yeah. Yeah.

I had a blast,
and I thrived in it.

And they let Nathan join in
every now and then. Um...

Matthew:
Nathan was their mascot until
he was old enough to join.

Carolyn: Yeah. Yeah.

♪♪

Carolyn: Kris had been
going through such a hard time.

And Doug kept trying to...
"Kris can stay with me."

We thought that was normal.
How are we supposed to know?

We didn’t know.

We have a child molester
telling us what the rules are,

which, according to him,
there are none.

Reporter: In early January,
46-year-old Douglas Young

entered a plea of no contest
to the sexual abuse

and exploitation
of 10 young boys.

Young was the boy’s Scoutmaster
who he met at a...

Matthew:
Kris was still very adamant

that that never happened
with them.

The boys won't... They don’t
want to talk about it at all.

Yeah.

Carolyn: He would just go right
to his room when he came home.

I didn’t want to believe
that it was true.

I-I really didn’t.

Matthew: Doug is actually
at Snake River Penitentiary

for the next...
now 20 years.

You know,
we got manipulated.

We got groomed.

We got...
We got played hard.

Kris:
I mean, I’m 18.

I hate kind of, like,
saying like,

"Oh, I’m a little slow in life

because a lot of stuff
has happened to me."

But I don’t know.

I have... I’ve not been doing
a lot of good in school...

I guess.

Uh...okay.

But...I’m living...

I’m okay, I guess.
I don’t know.

[ Sighs ]

Kris: At first,
he was just a nice guy.

I was living there.

And, like...

it wasn't even like a week
into me living there,

and he started doing stuff.

It was the night I got there,
he started doing stuff.

The first thing that happened

is he stuck his hand
down behind...

in my pants, like...

Uh, and...

First thing that was
going through my head is,

"What the fuck..."
Crap. I’m sorry.

"What the hell is happening?
Why...

Like, what is going on?"

And, "Is this normal?"

Because... I don’t know.

That’s kind of what
went through my head.

Apologies for cussing.

[ Sighs ]

It just...
It got much worse from that.

It progressed,
like, really fast.

[ Groans ]

I’d wake up
with him doing stuff.

I know he used to take pictures,
as well.

I don’t know
if every Boy Scout member

is, like, what Doug was, but...

Uh...

I don’t really know
how to explain it, I guess.

Director: When you say
"what Doug was," what was Doug?

What do you mean?
Pedophile.

I mean pedophile.

It’s just kind of hard to say,
I guess,

´cause it’s just...
It’s just that.

[ somber music starts playing]

♪♪

You guys did nothing wrong.
Alright? Love you guys.

I love you.
Love you too.

♪♪

[ light piano playing
over strings droning ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ music intensifies ]

I didn’t hear...

This is the first time
I’ve heard any of it.

This is the most
he’s opened up.
Yeah.

And it’s really hard right now.
Sorry.

♪♪

I don’t have
any more compassion.

I really don’t.

♪♪

[Crying] I can't believe that
he did those things to my son.

♪♪

And the Boy Scouts,
they don’t care.

I mean, they've known
for so long

the stuff that happens,

and they haven't done
a damn thing.

♪♪

I am so much more mad
than I was before.

Oh, God.

♪♪

[ Exhales shakily ]

Crew: The data is clear.
The data is unmistakable.

Nobody in the field
disputes now

the long-term effects
of childhood sexual abuse.

And they’re profound.

And many of them
go through all of these issues,

all of these problems,

all of these struggles
as an adult.

And they don’t really know
that there’s a connection

between that and something
that happened to them

as a 10- or
an 11-year-old child.

Every time they talk
about what happened,

it presents the possibility
of being retraumatized.

It’s a delicate process

that has to be handled
with sensitivity.

But we need to know
what happened,

because the sexual abuse
of a child is a crime.

It’s always been
a serious crime.

It’s been a crime since
the existence of the Boy Scouts.

♪♪

Jaquiss: The Boy Scouts
of America started in 1910.

Because the United States
was rapidly urbanizing,

there were people who feared

that boys were losing touch
with the out-of-doors,

that they weren't hardy enough,
they weren't robust enough.

♪♪

In the early days,
Teddy Roosevelt

was an enormous supporter
of the Boy Scouts.

He, of course,
was essentially the founder

of the National Park System.

He was a great outdoorsman.

And in 1916, he helped
the Boy Scouts of America

get a federal
congressional charter.

What the charter did
for the Boy Scouts

was basically give them
a monopoly,

both on the name
and on the uniform.

So it essentially cleared the
playing field of competition.

And the Boy Scouts over time
kind of created

their own private
National Park System.

[ mysterious orchestra music
plays into a patriotic march ]

♪♪

Jaquiss:
The Boy Scouts of America

made their name synonymous
with integrity and with service.

Announcer:
Today, the Boy Scout Manual

is the handbook for democratic
youth the world over.

More than 10 million copies
have already been sold.

♪♪

The year 1935 marks
the 25th birthday celebration

of the Boy Scouts of America,

a vital factor in American life.

♪♪

Janci: By 1935, the leadership
of the Boy Scouts

knew that pedophiles
were using the Scouting program

to abuse, you know, sometimes

dozens of boys in a troop

starting back in the 1920s.

They had identified
over a thousand men.

♪♪

Jaquiss: The name of the list
was a little bit misleading.

It might have led people
to believe

that they were trying to root
out communists from their ranks.

But the issue that
they really were trying

to wrap their arms around
was pedophiles.

Crew: The red flag list
was only available

to a very small, select group
of Boy Scout executives,

and they protected the
confidentiality of those files

very, very strictly.

Janci: When the Boy Scouts
put these names in their file,

they refused
to make those public.

And the Boy Scouts
intentionally did not share

this information
with law enforcement.

♪♪

The secrecy and the concealment
of the problem, I think,

went directly to their concern
about damage to the reputation,

damage to the Scouting brand,
damage to their image.

♪♪

Boy: Will there be
fossils in here?

Man: Fossils? No.
I’m a fossil.

[ Laughter ]

Alright, Scouts.
Signs up.

Most importantly,
do not touch the paintings.

This is an extremely valuable
collection.

All of the Norman Rockwell
Scout paintings

that are owned by the Boy Scouts
of America are displayed here.

About 65 of them.
Thank you. Alright.

And this is the first time

they've ever been shown
in one place.

Just remember, act like Scouts.

♪♪

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Electric guitar slightly
picking strings ]

♪♪

Now, I want to tell you
about the Scoutmaster painting.

This Scoutmaster posed,
and these kids in the tent

made sure that their faces
were turned out.

Jaquiss: Rockwell worked
for the Boy Scouts from 1913,

when he was 19 years old,
until the mid-1970s.

♪♪

I think one of the reasons
he was so successful is his art

is very accessible to people,
even to young children.

The collection is on display
in Warren, Ohio,

and small-town America
was the backbone of Scouting.

♪♪

When I was young,

my family lived near
Norman Rockwell´s studio,

and a family friend
was his photographer,

so I was actually invited
to pose for Rockwell.

He was a kind, nice person.

And, you know,
I was clean-cut and smiley

and sort of the all-American
kind of boy

that Rockwell used in so many
of his Scout paintings.

♪♪

In a lot of ways,
going to see these paintings

feels like a return
to my experience, to my youth.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Man:
Any other questions?

Child:
Isn’t that Norman Rockwell...

Oh, I’m sorry.
I should have told you that.

That is Norman Rockwell
in his Scout uniform

painting himself,
a self-portrait,

into the painting.

Thank you
for pointing it out.

Solomon:
He was a great storyteller,

but instead of making movies,

he told his story

in a single frame.

Rockwell early on became known

for his illustrations of boys,

especially boys
getting in trouble.

They would go swimming

in places where they
weren't supposed to swim.

They would play hooky
from school.

They would get in trouble.

But when Rockwell worked
for the Scouts,

the boys no longer
got in trouble.

His Scouts were very obedient.

They never misbehaved.

You never see Scouts
without their shoes.

They’re always following
the rules.

Basically, the Scouts
micromanaged him.

They kept a very close watch
on what he was painting,

and they rejected
many of his subjects.

In one painting, for instance,

Rockwell wanted to
paint raindrops

on the Scout’s uniform,

and the Scouts said,
"We can't have a wet uniform."

In the Scout paintings,

Rockwell created a very
sanitized version of boyhood,

in which boyhood is robbed
of its roughed edges

and presented as a very neat
and patriotic package.

♪♪

President Kennedy:
I strongly believe in Scouting.

I think it’s a source
of great strength to us.

I’m very appreciative to all
the adults who give leadership.

I would recommend it
to the sons and daughters

of every American family

as a important ingredient
of our national strength.

Jaquiss: The first president
who actually was a scout

was John F. Kennedy.

He was young. He was handsome.

He was bold. He was a war hero.

So he was really
a marketing coup

for the Boy Scouts.

Glenn:
On my honor, I will do my best

to do my duty to God
and my country

and to obey the Scout Law.

I’m John Glenn.

Most of the time,
I am learning more about

how to explore outer space.

In my spare time, though,

I explore the outdoors
with the Boy Scouts.

Jaquiss:
The Boy Scouts really had

their greatest decade
in the ´60s.

They had become

part of the fabric of America.

President Nixon: Scouts give
leadership to the whole nation,

to leave every place he goes
a little bit better

for the people that follow him.

Armstrong: That’s one
small step for a man...

one giant leap for mankind.

Jaquiss: Neil Armstrong
was an Eagle Scout,

and he actually called out
from space

to the National Jamboree.

Armstrong:
I’d like to say hello

to all my fellow Scouts
and Scouters

at Farragut State Park
in Idaho.

They’re having
the National Jamboree.

Jaquiss: I began to see that
this was an archetypal story,

not just about the Boy Scouts,

but it was really a story
about America.

♪♪

The Boy Scouts were just
this extraordinary institution

that had run up on the rocks,

and I really wanted to know why.

How'd they wreck this ship

that seemed like it was sailing

in... in calm waters

for most of its history?

And all of a sudden, it’s got a

big hole beneath the waterline.

How'd that happen?

Brokaw:
Tonight, our continued report

is on a story that came out

of the Boy Scouts of America
headquarters earlier this week.

Of all things, it involved
cheating by Scout officials.

Scout membership figures
were padded

to qualify for additional
federal funds.

Until the scandal broke,
it was not widely known

that the Boy Scouts
were receiving federal aid,

and certainly
the idea of cheating

was totally inconsistent
with the Boy Scout image.

So Fred Briggs looked further
into the situation.

The membership rolls
show that Chicago still has

the largest single Scout Council
in the country.

However, critics say
those membership rolls

tend to lie once in a while,

especially when it comes to
Scout troops in the inner city.

Briggs:
This is one example,

a housing project
on the South Side.

In 1971,
the books listed 800 boys

as members of
a Scout troop here.

But when meetings were held,
as few as 30 showed up.

Inner-city Scout groups
are subsidized

by federal poverty funds.

The Chicago Council
now admits registration figures

were inflated by as much as 40%.

We constantly are auditing
our membership,

trying to watch for membership
that is not active,

where the leader may have moved
out of the community and so on.

Briggs: The Chicago Council
admitted this week

that five staff members

have been fired
for padding registrations.

Similar crackdowns occurred in
Tulsa, Detroit, and Fort Worth.

♪♪

In 1968, the Scouts launched
a massive registration drive

to sign up 2 million new members
by 1976.

That may have been the cause
of the padding...

sheer pressure for numbers.

Vice President Gerald Ford,
who was in Chicago yesterday

for a Scout fundraiser,
said the misdeeds of a few

can't affect the overall success
of Scouting.

Officials of the Scouts
are cleaning house now,

hoping to avoid
any future misdeeds.

♪♪

Jaquiss: Boys are the lifeblood
of the Boy Scouts of America.

The Scouts depend on dues
from those boys

and from volunteer leaders.

That’s where their revenue
comes from.

They sell them uniforms.
They sell them handbooks.

They send them to summer camp.
That all brings in money.

If your numbers are declining
and your revenue is dependent

on recruiting new members,
you've got a problem.

[ Ball bouncing ]

♪♪

[ Man shouts indistinctly,
metal clanking ]

Lord: Developing my body
and my athleticism,

it’s another way
of protecting myself,

to make sure that no one
is going to harm me.

I get to own that.

[ Metal clangs ]

When I was in elementary
school, Scouting was...

You know, they recruited.

I was involved in Scouting
from 11 until 19, 20.

And during the summers,
I went to Boy Scout camp.

Some people would get homesick,
and they'd want to leave camp.

I’d get camp-sick. I wanted
to be in camp every summer.

♪♪

A Boy Scout is trustworthy.
And so I trusted everyone.

♪♪

I trusted people would do
the right thing.

And I trusted
that people would...

know that something was wrong.

And I trusted people
that they would intervene.

Why didn’t someone take up
for me?

They knew Lonnie Barnes.

Jaquiss:
who's Lonnie Barnes?

Lonnie Barnes was, uh...

the Scout leader...

who...I trusted, right?

Who was the assistant
Scoutmaster

of the troop I participated in.

Lonnie Barnes was never at camp,
so camp was a safe place for me.

But one year, he...
he was hired at camp.

And I knew what...
I knew what he was doing to me.

And I knew...
I could see the signs

what he was doing to other boys.

And, uh...

He didn’t last at camp
more than a week.

And he got fired.

And it was, like, one of
the best days of my life.

He was rushed out of camp.

They said they found a liquor
bottle outside of his tent.

And I’m thinking to myself,
"Hell no.

Hell no."

Lonnie Barnes went and touched
one of those boys.

♪♪

And they decided,

"We can just get this
out of here,

end of story, end of the case."

He left camp,
but he was still in Scouting

the rest of my whole
Scouting career.

It did not affect
his participation at all

in the program.

And he was the one
who told me that...

if I told anyone,
then he would kill me.

♪♪

But there’s one person I trusted
that I could tell.

And I got the courage.
And I rehearsed it. I rehearsed.

"Mom, Mr. Barnes
is not a good guy,

and he’s doing these bad things
to me."

And my mom woke up that morning,

and she was stumbling around
and she had a stroke.

My mom died,
and the person that I got

the courage to tell...
I couldn’t tell.

I went back into deeper silence
and promised to tell no one.

I’m 40 years old
before I... I tell someone.

♪♪

I had all this anger
built up in my life,

and I needed to do something
with it.

And so I went down to
New Rochelle Police Station.

And when the detective
contacted me... And he says,

"Lonnie Barnes has confessed
to abusing you."

I must have read that e-mail
a hundred times.

Because I no longer had to prove
to people that I was abused.

I was free!

But do we just stop
with the truth...

or do we move toward
restoration, restoring justice?

♪♪

With the settlement
and everything,

it’s the full circle.

[ Bells tolling ]

Eternal God and whose mercy
is endless...

and the treasury of compassion
inexhaustible,

look kindly upon us
and increase Your mercy in us,

that in difficult moments
we might not despair,

nor become despondent,
but with great confidence

submit ourselves
to Your holy will,

which is love and mercy
itself.
Amen.

We bind all these victims
to this chaplet.

In the name of the Father
and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.
Amen.

[ Haunting music plays ]

[ Music continues, bell chimes ]

♪♪

[ Music continues, bell chimes ]

♪♪

[ Music continues, bell chimes ]

♪♪

It’s funny because I have
the camera that took that movie.

[ Music continues,
bells chiming ]

♪♪

♪♪

And you can still hear
the noise.

[ Camera whirring ]

♪♪

I grew up in Brooklyn,

and my father died
when I was 2.

I was a tough kid.

At 7 or 8 years old,

I started hanging out on the street.

♪♪

I could get on a subway
and go into the city.

My mother,
she didn’t know where I was.

♪♪

So she took a Boy Scout leader
off to the side and said,

"My son doesn't have a father.

If you could just pay
a little attention to him."

Um...

♪♪

I buried my face
in a... in a pillow

and thought, "Please, God.
Let this be over.

Let this be over."

♪♪

Why didn’t I say something?
Why didn’t I go to somebody?

Why didn’t I tell my mother?

Why didn’t I... I don’t know...
go to the police?

Go to the Boy Scouts?

Fear.

Um, embarrassment.

Shame.

I allowed myself to be charmed

by this young man...

...and as a friend, as a mentor,
as a big brother...

♪♪

...and gave him reason to think

that he could get away with it,
I guess,

´cause, again,
it wasn't violent.

He didn’t...
He didn’t threaten to kill me.

He was just telling me,
"Be quiet. Be quiet."

♪♪

I didn’t do what I should have
done as a normal...

human being.

♪♪

♪♪

Hamilton:
What is the problem here?

The problem is the model.

If you have children that
are going into the wilderness

and you have very few adults,
it’s really easy to abuse them.

♪♪

The opportunities
for pedophiles

in the Boy Scout model
are rampant,

and so, um,
no one should be surprised.

And what they needed to start
thinking about decades ago

was what to do about the model.

So, this is the sign
at the entrance

of Camp Meriwether,

Cascade Pacific Council’s
summer camp for boys.

It’s kind of the crown jewel

of the Cascade Pacific Council’s
properties,

an 800-acre Boy Scout camp
founded in 1926.

It runs along two miles

of beautiful,
unobstructed beach.

♪♪

The Scouts and the Scout program
on its face

and on paper is really
what every boy, you know, wants.

It’s adventure.
It’s being out in the woods.

It’s self-reliance.
It’s learning skills.

But often
you’re in a remote place

where there’s no one
you can go to for help.

And so the Boy Scouts program
really had built into it

this very attractive system

for pedophiles
to get close to boys.

♪♪

The Cascade Pacific Council
has had numerous cases

brought against them
for sexual abuse of Scouts.

And a number of those cases

happened at Camp Meriwether
itself.

♪♪

There’s no question that
the core activities of Scouting

involved secluding boys

and isolating them
away from their parents,

away from the adults that
would otherwise protect them

and using that opportunity
to sexually abuse them.

♪♪

The Boy Scouts
had to know that pattern.

We know they knew
about that pattern

because they had created
secret internal files

documenting everything
that was known

about these
pedophile Scout leaders.

Dr. Warren:
If you’re going to predict

what somebody’s likely to do,

you can simply look
at what they've done previously,

and the pattern, it will emerge.

I began working with BSA
12 or 13 years ago.

They said,
"Oh, we have some files."

They were referred to
as "the perversion files."

♪♪

I’m used to studying forms
of violent crime

where I have police records

and FBI interviews
and crime-scene photos.

What arrived was somewhat
disorganized materials.

So I began picking them out at
random and looking through them.

And they had started
being collected in about 1922.

The smallest file
is one page long.

The longest file
is 917 pages long.

♪♪

It was not sophisticated,
scientific information

that you would generate
or collect to do research.

A lot of it was like,
how tall is a person?

What color is their eyes?

What do they like to do?
What is their job?

Do they have a wife
and children?

Because the purpose of the file

was not to accomplish
any kind of research goal,

but really be able to identify
the person

if they tried to get back
into the Boy Scouts.

Lawyer: Do you remember
the names of any of the kids

that were involved
in Troop 719

when you were
assistant Scoutmaster?

[ Speaks indistinctly, laughs ]

Mind just went blank.
Lawyer: Okay.

Um, I could probably name
all the ones that were there.

The names that you gave me,
I don’t know.

Lawyer: Let me give you
some of their names

and see if these
ring any bells.

My mind just went blank.
It just shut down.

Lawyer:
Kerry Lewis?

Yes, I remember
the name.

Crew: I’ve deposed
lots of pedophiles

who were Scoutmasters,
who abused Scouts,

who have admitted it and said,

"That’s why I joined.

I joined the troop because
I wanted to have sex with boys,

and that’s where the boys were."

Reporter: In a Portland,
Oregon, courtroom,

the witness, identified
as Jack Doe Number 4,

testifies uneasily

about being an 11-year-old
Boy Scout

alone with his troop leader
In 1983.

Crew: Kerry Lewis
was sexually abused

by his Scoutmaster, Timur Dykes.

I think there were 20
or 21 members of that troop.

18 of them were sexually abused
by Timur Dykes.

Lawyer: Let me give you
some other names

and tell me
the kids you remember.

[Bleep]

Yes.

[Bleep]

Mm, yes.

[Bleep]

Yes.

♪♪

Jaquiss: Over the years, there
have been a number of lawsuits

against the Scouts
alleging sexual abuse.

In the late 1980s,

the Boy Scouts were sued
regularly,

but the Boy Scouts
never went to trial.

They always settled.

But in this case,
they decided to go to trial.

The lawyers for Kerry Lewis
said,

"Hey, we hear
there are these files.

We want them to be brought
into evidence."

Janci:
There was some information

in certain dark, you know,
corners that,

"Oh, these files may exist."

But almost no one

had ever been able to obtain
the files in litigation,

and no one had ever been able
to make them public.

We knew we had a huge battle
on our hands.

The Scouts have almost
never been willing

to turn anything over.

♪♪

Jaquiss: The judge in this case
was a very experienced judge.

They threw every argument they
could think of at this judge,

and he wasn't really cowed
by that.

Of course,
the defense objected

to the admission of these files
into evidence.

The Boy Scouts knew
they had a problem.

Crew:
The judge ordered the Boy Scouts

to turn over to us
20 years of I. V. files...

"perversion files."

♪♪

Less than two weeks before
we were supposed to start trial,

they finally produced the files.

Crew: We got 1,200 I. V. files,
the Ineligible Volunteer files.

Not all of the I. V. files
that the Boy Scouts had,

but the ones that the judge
deemed relevant.

When I realized that
he was going to let in

20 years worth of files,

I was pretty sure...
game over for the Boy Scouts.

Janci: There’s not
a lot of moments in life

where you know
that you’re doing something

that very few people
have ever done before,

but we did have that sense
when the files got delivered.

And when you started
to go through these records,

you felt the weight
of what we were doing.

♪♪

Malarkey:
We were in our jury room,

and they brought a bunch
of those cardboard file boxes.

And then the bailiff leaves,
and it’s just the jurors.

Then we started just opening
them and thumbing through them.

We all sat, and there was
a lot of sitting in silence

and reading for a long time.

And then we started saying,
"Oh, my God."

I was trying to just be
a good juror

and take in the information

and not get too carried away
emotionally.

And then it just, honestly,
became horrifying.

Because each one of these names

was a real person,
was a real child,

and there was box after box
after box.

There was just a lot of silence
in the jury room

in reverence
for what those documents held

and the actual acts
that they represented.

♪♪

I read lots,
and I read lots in detail.

And knowing that
there were thousands more,

it was really...

Yeah.
Uh...disgusting.

♪♪

Janci: One of the documents
we found in a number of files

was a memo cover page.

And the graphic on that memo
was a little cartoon picture

of a firefighter
putting out a fire.

And that told us everything
we needed to know

about the way that they viewed

how reports of child sexual
abuse should be dealt with.

They viewed this as a fire
to be put out,

a secret to be kept.

♪♪

Crew:
It’s right there on the files.

They wouldn’t tell the police.
They didn’t tell the police.

I mean, it wasn't
just a practice.

It was a policy.
It was a written policy.

Don’t tell the police.

Don’t tell the school
that the Scoutmaster works at.

Don’t tell anybody.

They were as much intent
on protecting

the confidentiality
of the perpetrator

as they were
of any of the victims.

Janci: The Boy Scouts
created a program internally

that they called "probation."

♪♪

Probation was not ordered
by the court or the police.

In fact, the police
or the courts weren't aware

when the Boy Scouts decided
to put somebody on "probation."

But essentially, probation was

they knew about
a particular pedophile.

They knew that that person
had been alleged

to have abused kids.

And they decided, instead of
kicking the person out

and instead of warning anybody,

they would give him
a second chance.

Malarkey:
What we saw was troop leaders

being found to have abused
children at one troop

and then, you know, here
they are popping up a year later

at another troop
in a different state.

And again and again.

So it was just really clear
physical evidence

that they had known
for decades and decades

that these men were assaulting
these boys.

♪♪

On this one level, they did a
phenomenal job of tracking them.

♪♪

And then, on the other hand,
completely dropped the ball

on making sure that they
couldn’t and wouldn’t abuse

other children in the program.

Like, what the hell else
would those files be for?

♪♪

Janci: These pedophiles knew
the soft spots, the weak points,

and the Boy Scouts chose
not to do anything about it,

and they chose to allow
more kids to come in unknowingly

into a program
that was dangerous.

Crew: At the Kerry Lewis trial,
I think it’s the first time

that a jury was able to see
with their own eyes

what's in the I. V. files.

And the jury verdict
spoke volumes.

Judge Wittmayer: "We, the jury
find our verdict as follows...

We assess punitive damages

against the Boy Scouts
of America.

Amount... $18.5 million."

And it’s signed today,
dated today...

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

Judge Wittmayer:
Almost nothing that happens

in a courtroom in Oregon
is confidential.

and if you want to maintain
confidences,

you settle the case.

Jaquiss: It was a huge mistake
by the Scouts to go to trial

because after the verdicts,
The New York Times,

The Oregonian,
and The Associated Press,

who had all petitioned
to make the documents public,

began putting these files up
on their websites.

Janci: When you can hold
the document that shows

that the Scoutmaster that abused
me wasn't just a bad apple,

this wasn't a one-off,
this wasn't unavoidable,

this was a pattern
and a systemic problem.

And they documented the problem,
file after file,

week after week,
year after year for decades.

Dr. Warren: We could see people
living normal lives.

And this was not
a static location,

but it was a porous,
interactive reality.

I realized that this was going
to be the largest database

of community-dwelling
child molesters.

For victims to be able
to go on their own

and look at the documents
that were obtained

and released
in the Kerry Lewis case,

it was a tipping point.

Newscaster: Boy Scout
president Wayne Perry

apologized to the victims

but made no apologies
for keeping the files.

Our ineligible volunteer file

is a big element
of our keeping track

and making sure that
nobody gets in.

People should be happy
we have these files.

You want us to keep these files.

Ron:
It was pretty easy to find.

I had to go through the names,

and there it was,
Edward Rodriguez...

Edward A. Rodriguez,
Brooklyn, New York.

And I said,
"I think this is the guy."

Okay.

Okay.

This is a letter
from July 24, 1964.

"Dear Howard,

Reverend Blank of the
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

has requested that we place
Mr. Rodriguez

on the confidential file.

Through personal admission,

Mr. Rodriguez has had
immoral relations

with at least three boys
in Troop 739.

These incidents occurred
more than once,

and in the case of the blank
boy, over a long period of time.

There does not seem
to be any doubt

as to the validity
of these charges."

This is July 28, 1964.

"Dear Mr. Wallace,
this letter is to inform you

that the Committee
of Troop 739, Manhattan,

has asked for
and received the resignation

of its Scoutmaster,
Edward A. Rodriguez.

It was requested as a safeguard
for the boys in our troop

on the grounds
of moral turpitude.

He didn’t give any reason

why he had chosen those boys
in particular.

But as a matter of fact, these
boys are small in stature.

Ed Rodriguez also indicated

that this is the first time
that this had happened.

But those present were of
the opinion that his actions

definitely were repeated
previously with others.

Before ending, though,
he was requested

not to divulge any information
connected with the affair,

and we have even gone so far
as to concoct a reason

why Ed Rodriguez has left
the troop."

Okay.

Well, come on.
It’s a bunch of bullshit.

You’re admitting to me
that you concocted a story

for him to resign,

and this is some letting him
off the fucking hook?

Excuse my language.

But I definitely don’t mind it
being taped.

Sorry.
This is just bullshit.

It’s just reading bullshit.

And for someone to actually sign
their name to it,

what an asshole this person is.

Let’s put this guy in jail.

Forget about Eddie Rodriguez.
They’re all bad guys.

You’re such a good guy.
Come here.

Stewart:
When I first was thinking about

joining the Boy Scouts,

I went to a pastor friend
of mine in Dallas

for some counsel.

He said, "What’s your biggest
fear about joining?"

I said, "Honestly,
if I join the Boy Scouts,

they can't compensate me
the same way

I’m being compensated"...
That was my belief.

He goes,
"What are you talking about?

The guy across the street works
for the Boy Scouts.

He’s got a limo
that picks him up every week."

And he said, "And that guy
drives a company car

down to get his trash each day."

Hi.

My brother is an Eagle Scout,

but earning that rank
was not ever on my radar.

I went into Scouting
because I love to camp

and I love to hike
and I love to do adventures

and have a great time
with other people.

And that’s what I did.

Oh, you’ll love this.
These are my saddles.

All my cowboy gear
is really done

in honor to my love
for Scouting.

You’ll see that my colors
are typically olive,

like the uniform, and tan.

I also had some silver conchos
made that has the Fleur de lis,

which is the emblem
for the millions

and millions of Scouts
around the world.

One thing about Scouting,
once you’re in,

you don’t leave
if you love Scouting.

I started out as a Scout.

Once my kids became Scout age,
I was their Cubmaster.

Now I’m the father
of two Eagle Scouts.

I mean, Scouting
is all about giving back.

Scouting is about helping
the next generation.

I would have thought nobody
joins Scouting

to make a lot of money.

What’s funny about that
is you look at some

of the salaries of the senior
executives over the years,

and you see this absolutely
absurd high salary

for a senior executive.

There have been a number
of people

who I think came
to the Boy Scouts of America

to take advantage
of the Boy Scouts of America.

I joined as a consultant
in 2010,

and then I resigned in 2019.

When I joined
the National Council,

there were people who had worked
at BSA National

for 20 and 30 years.

They were very safe
in their job,

very safe
in their retirement program,

and the lease cars were
just part of the entitlement.

But if you ask,
"Who is responsible

for the decline over the years?"
nobody took ownership for it.

I mean, if you’re
going out of business,

you’re not leaving at 4:30
in the afternoon.

You’re staying until 10:00
at night, 11:00 at night.

You’re there first thing
in the morning.

But if you were at
the national office at 4:30

in the afternoon,
you better watch out,

because you’re about to get
run over by a stampede

leaving the office.

Morones:
I was asked to analyze

the Boy Scouts´
public financial information.

And I have to say, I was

surprised by the size and scope

of the organization financially.

The assets were
over a billion dollars,

and I had no idea.

That’s large for a nonprofit.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

Since the 2010 trial,
the Boy Scouts has generated

a substantial operating loss
every year.

I added up a loss
of over $500 million.

Their legal fees have
substantially increased

during that time.

Membership has been declining,

and it appears
to be getting worse.

Still, in 2019,
the Boy Scout top executive

makes over a million dollars
a year,

higher than any other CEO
in that category of nonprofits.

And the organization
has promised to pay

certain amounts of money
to executives

in their retirement years.

It’s risky because
the pension payments

are promised regardless
of economic conditions.

So to have that coincide with
taking on additional debt...

extremely unfortunate timing.

I can't really speculate
any intention beyond that.

Jaquiss:
Absolutely.

Lord: You can die
without being killed,

because some of those
experiences I had

when I was being abused,
I felt like I was dying,

or maybe death was the answer.

So I had died many times,

but I had to wake up in the
morning and face another day.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

And not only did he abuse me,

but Lonnie introduced me
to other Scout leaders,

and he introduced me
to a Scout executive

from New York Council
named Gary Rivers.

And Gary was, like, in his 20s,
just graduated from college,

and he was an executive
in finance.

I looked up to him,
and so I said,

"Here’s a guy who is a Black,
African-American male leader."

And so I got introduced to him,
and then, that turned out to...

he wanted more than just me
looking up to him as a leader,

that Lonnie Barnes
introduced him, and...

and so Gary abused me, too.

And...

And Gary's story...

I guess I’m almost 16
when I... when I meet Gary.

And, uh...

Wow.

So I had to call Gary one day...

...and tell him
that I had gonorrhea.

And...

And that was... I didn’t know
what gonorrhea was.

I was in pain, and I called him.

And he told me, you know,
to meet him in New York City.

And I’m in New Rochelle.

And I had to get on a train
by myself.

I couldn’t tell anybody
what was going on.

And I was fearful of what...

´cause I’m in pain,
what's going to happen.

So I met him
at Grand Central Station,

and we went to a doctor.

And Gary was talking
to the doctor,

and then, all of a sudden,
I get called into this room.

I’m given a shot.

♪♪

He introduced me
to a lot of bad people.

You know, I had to perform
or whatever.

It was over 15 people.

♪♪

I had to live two lives.

And so you numb yourself,
and you protect yourself.

And so for abuse victims,

you may not have to wait
to be pronounced dead

because you can die inside.

♪♪

Sawyer:
We begin tonight with a story

that could touch
nearly every family in America

and anyone who's ever put on
a Scout uniform.

First, listen to this letter
the Boy Scouts of America

wrote to us.

It says, "The Boy Scouts
has been the catalyst

for much of the awareness
and discussion of child abuse

that has emerged
in recent years."

Sawyer: Your critics say,
to put it bluntly,

that you were dragged
kicking and screaming

into dealing with
the child abuse problem

and that what you wanted
to do,

until you were forced
to do it,

was just hush it up.

There are people that want
a silver-bullet answer

to everything,

and we’re not gonna
please people

who expect an absolute silver-
bullet solution to this problem.

Were there no
significant problems

inside the Boy Scouts
before 1985?

Not that we’re aware of,
no.

None at all?
Not that we’re aware of.

Sawyer: Day one’s review
of hundreds of Boy Scout files

shows an average of 99 reports
of child abuse

in the organization every year.

Isn’t that a problem?

99 out of 6, 7,
800 local councils.

I don’t think that you can say
that’s a problem.

You can't say
that’s a problem?

Again, one case
is one too many.

Well, then you've got
almost 100 on average a year.

That’s 100 times
worse problem.

And you work forward

developing and enhancing
programs as you go.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

Narrator: The Boy Scouts
of America is an organization

dedicated to developing
healthy young men and women.

But we’re not immune
to problems,

one of which is the problem
of child abuse,

a problem that affects...

Jaquiss:
Beginning in the late ’80s,

the Boy Scouts put in place

what they call the
youth protection protocols.

Jaquiss:
These were new policies

designed to train adult leaders
and establish new guidelines.

Narrator: One-on-one activities
between adults and Scouts

are not authorized.

Jaquiss: They advertised
to the public aggressively

that they were
making Scouting safer.

Narrator: Any time that
you suspect child abuse

in the Boy Scout program,

you must contact
the Scout executive.

The Scout executive
in each council

has contact
with the proper authorities

and has established procedures.

Rep. Don Edwards: The purpose of
this subcommittee meeting today

is to establish procedures
for national criminal

background checks
for child care providers.

Nemecek:
Let me first state unequivocally

that the administration
strongly supports

the goals of this act.

Swann: We require a criminal
background check

of all potential volunteers.

We have endured the cost and
the burden of getting this done.

Rep. Don Edwards:
Well, thank you, Mr. Swann.

We’re pleased
to have the support

of your great organization.

We'll now hear
from Lawrence F. Potts,

director of administration
for Boy Scouts of America.

Mr. Potts.

While we applaud
your efforts to attack

a very serious
societal problem,

it is undoubtedly true
that many worthy volunteers

would simply not wish
to subject themselves

to being fingerprinted.

To combat child abuse,
BSA, with the help of experts,

has designed
a special five-point plan.

Rep. Pat Schroeder:
So you'd like to have a profile

of what you think is
a trustworthy volunteer?

That has worked for you
and has not caused any problems?

I mean, you can figure this out
without any help.

Unfortunately,
experts have told us

that there is no profile.

There is no way in advance that
you can you can be assured...

Rep. Pat Schroeder
That’s what they told us, too.

That’s why I thought maybe
you had found the key

to unlocking all of this.

Potts: We know the leaders
that we’re selecting.

You know,
they come out of the community,

would be known
in the community,

would have roots
in the community,

would be married, would be
fathers of kids in the program.

Roberts: A former executive
with the Boy Scouts

has pleaded guilty
to child pornography charges.

Douglas Smith worked with
the Scouts for nearly 40 years,

even ran a task force to
protect kids from sexual abuse.

Smith now faces up to 20 years
in prison.

Lawyer: Which criminal
statute were you convicted of?

I was convicted of receipt
and distribution

of child pornography.

Lawyer:
Did you ever hold a position

at the Boy Scouts
of America

with respect to the
Youth Protection guidelines?

Yes, sir.

Lawyer:
What were the circumstances

under which you ceased working
for the BSA?

Um...I, uh...

I submitted
my letter of retirement

after the police
had come to my house.

Lawyer:
Are you presently employed

in any capacity whatsoever
by the Boy Scouts of America?

No, sir.
Lawyer: Okay.

What is your current state
of employment status

with the Boy Scouts
of America?

Retired.

Lawyer:
And so when you are

completing your term
of incarceration,

you will be then eligible
to receive medical benefits

and you will also receive
your retirement?

Is that correct?
Yes.

Lawyer: I believe
that is it for me, sir.

Um, at this point,
I have no further questions.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

Jaquiss: For decades, all the
letters sent to the Boy Scouts

alleging sexual abuse
in Scouting

were sent to a man
named Paul Ernst.

He was the keeper
of the secrets.

Ernst would later be deposed
for a sexual abuse case

against the Scouts.

Lawyer: You kept
this information confidential.

True.

Lawyer: You didn’t share
this information

with law enforcement?

Yes, that’s true.

♪♪

Lawyer:
And you didn’t share it

with other parents
in the troop?

No.

Lawyer:
Okay. But...

As I was saying, you don’t
give it out to the public.

You don’t tell people that
this person has done something

that will affect his job

or his relationship with others
and so forth.

Because we didn’t
want to do that.

We weren't the type of person

that wanted to do that
to an individual.

♪♪

Jaquiss: James, how did you
learn you were being excluded

from the Boy Scouts,
and when did you learn that?

Sure. It was two years after I’d
received my Eagle Scout award.

It was the summer of 1990,
and I get a call from my mother

who said that I received
certified mail.

"Dear Mr. Dale, the grounds
for your membership revocation

are the standards
for leadership established

by the Boy Scouts of America,

which specifically forbid
membership to homosexuals."

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

I was in the Scouts from the age
of 8 to the age of 20.

I was in it my entire childhood.

It was the singular,
most formative part of my youth.

I was not out
when I was younger.

And even if in the back
of my mind as a gay kid,

I had that doubt or fear

or, you know, self-hatred,
you could even say,

the Boy Scouts really helped me

not feel so bad about myself
as a gay kid,

even if I didn’t have the words
at the time.

I was really caught off guard,

but it wasn't something
I could also walk away from.

I’m really happy
with who I am today,

and I’m really happy
with where I’ve come

and what I’ve stood for.

All that is because
of the Boy Scouts.

It’s a great program
with a policy

that’s just simply wrong
and harmful.

Jaquiss:
James Dale sued the Scouts

and ended up going all the way

to the United States
Supreme Court.

And even though their membership
was in long-term decline,

they spent millions of dollars
just fighting to keep him out.

Cooper:
On a divisive issue,

the Supreme Court ruled
that the Boy Scouts

can bar homosexuals
from serving as troop leaders.

♪♪

Dale: The saddest irony
in all of this

is that you’re taught
to be honest,

to be trustworthy,
to be a leader.

Everything I’m doing now

is because of what
the Boy Scouts taught me.

If we no longer in America

can discriminate
on the basis of what we believe,

then we are no longer
a free people.

Jaquiss: For Scouting,
it seemed to be more important

to exclude gay Scouts
and Scout leaders

than it was to fix
the pedophile problem.

The Boy Scouts knew they were
harboring pedophiles

and they didn’t
do anything about it.

My name is Michael Johnson.

I’m a father, a son, and former
director of youth protection

with the Boy Scouts of America.

And truth be told,

I have got to share something

that’s been on my heart

and a major concern of mine

in my final years

at the Boy Scouts of America
as well as after my departure,

and is more clearly true.

When I ask the question,

"Is the Boy Scouts of America
safe for kids?"

the truth of the matter
and the truth

that I said at the time
was, "It’s not.

The Boy Scouts of America
is not safe for kids."

It is safer,
but it’s not safe for kids.

[ Discordant music begins ]

[ Keyboard clacking ]

♪♪

♪♪

Carolyn: He had no fear.
Doug had no fear.

[ Keyboard clacking ]

♪♪

Matthew:
There was a blog that came out

that said how he liked to spoon
with the boys.

♪♪

Carolyn:
Made me sick.

I mean, we didn’t know
the details,

and now I feel like an idiot
because...

[ Chuckles ]

God.

[ Keyboard clacking ]

♪♪

Matthew: The Boy Scouts,
if you have the problem fixed,

how come our case
is here?

Carolyn: A year or two
before Boy Scouts,

Doug was accused
of something.

They wouldn’t say what.

Newscaster:
The Cascade Pacific Council

continued to allow Young
to serve as a Scoutmaster,

despite Young writing
in a blog post

that he was investigated
for abuse back in 2010.

If there
was allegations...

I don’t care
if they were unfounded or not...

that should be
a red flag

on letting someone be in charge
of young boys.

I’m just...
How can this happen?

Carolyn:
I want everybody to know,

you know, the Boy Scouts
are not what they say they are.

They’re just not.

[ Sniffles, sighs ]

I feel like a fool.

And...

[ Voice breaking ]
...I just feel so guilty

for putting him
in that situation.

[ Sighs ]

Director: Did you and
your brother ever talk about

what was happening
when you were in Boy Scouts?
No.

Never.

We really don’t talk
about it now either.

We just kind of avoid it
with each other

´cause I find it...

Like, I think me and him
would be uncomfortable

telling each other
about stuff.

Do you have anything fragile
on your bed, bro?

Kris: I don’t think so. Just
step over there or something.

Kris: I tell him a lot
that I’m very sorry

that I didn’t tell him to stop
doing that to my younger brother

because I didn’t want him
to have

the same traumatic experience
I did.

He was only in fourth grade,
I think,

and I hate that I didn’t
fricking tell him

to stop anything.

That’s the part
that really makes me mad,

that he did that
to my younger brother.

I don’t know if you can
actually see them or not.

I know the reason
why people cut.

You trade your emotional pain
for physical pain

´cause you’re dealing with
mental pain so...

so much,
you just want a break from it,

´cause you can't distract
from it.

And you cut yourself,
and you have,

I guess, just physical damages
that you can focus on, I guess.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

If somebody saw that I was
getting molested by a pedophile,

he’s fucking doing... sorry...

he’s doing stuff to you,
and it’s not normal,

and it’s not okay.

You need to get out or,
"Hey, I’m gonna call the police

and they’re gonna deal with
this," but nobody said anything.

♪♪

So I kind of just thought
I was on my own

and nobody would really hear me.

♪♪

Kris: Having this happen to you
and then having, you know,

someone talk about you
maybe getting a payout for it,

it doesn't feel real to me.

It’s just kind of unbelievable
that something good

can actually come out
of something bad.

My lawyer’s office called me

and told me that "the Boy Scouts
had been court ordered

to pay for therapy for you
and for your family

who may have been affected
by what you went through."

And so, um...

...I immediately said, "Yes.
I’ll take advantage of that."

If for nothing else,
then to punish the Boy Scouts.

I also figured that may be
the only thing

I ever get out of this.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

I know I’m not alone out there
as a victim.

Ron:
Hi, honey.

And I don’t know how it...

how it is manifested
in other people’s lives,

but it’s manifested itself
as rage inside of me

that comes out
at the most inopportune times

and to the most...
most undeserving people.

My wife doesn't deserve
to be treated

the way I’ve treated her
sometimes.

♪♪

Mary:
At one point,

I called the main headquarters
of the Boy Scouts

because I was so frustrated
in my marriage.

And I just said, "You know what?

I just want you to know how
this has affected our family."

And, you know, I don’t remember
the phone call verbatim,

but, um...
"There’s nothing we can do."

♪♪

Ron:
I’ve lost jobs

because sometimes people got
in my face

and their authority became
obnoxious to me.

And rather than be able
to play the game...

I let my rage break through.

"Eh. Bye."

Said, "There goes that job."

Many victims have learned
how to deal with that

so that they can get on
with their lives

and still accomplish
what they want to.

I’m in a group
that just doesn't seem

to be able to do that, so...

[ Sighs ]

Humphrey:
You know, living is difficult.

Think of all the stress
that comes when, you know,

you’re working
and you start raising a family.

And it’s these stresses in life
that accentuate that loneliness

and that emptiness and bring
all those memories back.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

It’s not just about
a financial settlement.

It’s about Boy Scouts admitting
that they did wrong

and they allowed wrong to happen
on their watch.

♪♪

So it’s important that we get
a settlement.

I mean, it’s the closest thing
to justice any of these people

will ever get.

And if we fail to do that,
then there’s no closure.

It has to happen.

Humphrey:
Alright. Here we go.

-Ready?
-Ready.

Humphrey:
Hey, good evening, everybody.

Welcome to another
TCC town hall update.

We’re excited
that you’re with us.

I’m very excited to announce
a guest that we have.

Michael Johnson.

He served for 10 years
with the Boy Scouts

trying to improve
and fix that program.

Well, listen, Michael,
we just really appreciate

you being here tonight.
Johnson: Thank you very much.

You know, silence is complicity
for me, and I stood on that

and other moral
and ethical principles.

Humphrey:
We certainly appreciate it.

You know, we asked you
to sort of take a look

at the plan
that survivors are voting on.

And in your opinion,
will the non-monetary portions

do anything to roll back
sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts

the way it’s written today?
No.

No, no.
Absolutely not.

The Boy Scouts have been
at this what, 100-plus years.

You can't trust them
to do it themselves.

They’re incapable of doing it.

Culturally, they’re stuck.

they've got too much
cultural inbreeding

and nobody willing to risk
their neck to make a change.

So thank you once again
for attending.

Thank you for your courage
in coming out.

We really appreciate
your support.

Johnson: Thank you very much
for everything

that you guys are doing.
Good luck.

Humphrey:
And just a general message

for everybody to hang in there.

You know,

the BSA and the insurers

and the local councils
are struggling

just to get their mind around
the magnitude of these numbers

because there’s so many of you.

Humphrey:
So we’re working through that.

We have a plan,
and just hang in there.

And one day at a time.
That’s what we’re trying to do.

So thanks, everybody.
Have a great evening.

Good night.

Good night.

[ Sighs ]

You know,
our joke in the TCC is,

you know, what we'll end up with
is a Starbucks card.

A friend of mine
used to joke with me.

He says, "You know, money’s not
the most important thing.

But when you need it, it’s kind
of up there with oxygen."

And so I guess
that’s what I would say.

It’s not
the most important thing,

but there’s a lot of these guys
that need it.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

Crew: At this point,
we’re at an impasse.

For decades,
both the local councils

and BSA National every year
bought insurance policies.

The fact of the matter is...

it’s the Scouts
and their parents

who bought those policies.

They’re the ones that paid those
premiums because they paid dues.

They took a portion
of those dues,

and they bought
insurance policies

starting back in the 1930s.

And so Scouts...
victims, survivors...

are the ones that have paid
for that insurance.

The insurance companies
are not engaging.

The insurance companies
are basically saying...

"We’re not gonna be left
holding the bag."

GPS: In 1,000 feet, turn left
onto Corporate Drive.

Jaquiss: We got an e-mail from
the Boy Scouts saying, "Okay.

We’re finally ready to talk."

GPS: Turn right onto
Executive Drive.

[ Turn signal clicking ]

[ Bell chiming ]

Jaquiss: This is
the national headquarters

of the Boy Scouts of America.

They actually built this
in 1979.

And the bankruptcy has caused
the Boy Scouts to lay off

more than half of their staff.

So inside are a couple
of floors of empty cubicles.

Hi, Jim.
I’m Nigel Jaquiss.

Nigel. Jim Turley.
Pleasure to meet you.

Jaquiss: Thanks for coming
all the way down to see us.

Turley:
It’s my pleasure.

Alright.
Let’s get started.

How involved were you
in the decision

to declare bankruptcy
in 2020?

I was involved, very involved.

I was the chair at the time.

Jaquiss:
What did it feel like?

Well, as you'd expect,
it felt horrible.

But we knew we were doing
the right thing

because we were doing it
for the right reason.

We wanted to ensure

that we could equitably
compensate our survivors,

and we also wanted to make sure

we could deliver the mission
of Scouting

for the next 100 years.

And going through
this bankruptcy filing,

as painful as it is, was a way
to accomplish both of those.

Jaquiss: People said,
"Hey, the Scouts

pay their executives
very generously,

even though we’ve seen
since 2010

basically an annual operating
deficit or loss each year."

Yeah, our compensation
committee looks every year

at the compensation
of our executives,

actually does
market assessments,

and is quite confident

that they’re being
appropriately compensated

for the complexity
of their responsibility

compared to other
youth-serving organizations.

And so we feel very positive
about that.

Jaquiss: So,
how is it gonna be different

when you come out
of Chapter 11?

How is it culturally

and operationally
gonna be different?

I think the cultural changes
around youth protection

have already been made.

We’re not going to be
more focused on this

because of going
through bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is a process
to compensate victims.

It’s not a process
of changing

the characteristic of Scouting.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

Dr. Warren: I can assure you
that there are many,

many, many ways
to sexually abuse a child,

and you don’t need to have them
out in the woods

to bring that about.

♪♪

♪♪

These men don’t go away.

They don’t dissolve
out of the universe.

They just go somewhere else.

♪♪

How do we find the origins
of this pathology

that makes people want
to have sex with children?

We need to develop
a broader perspective

on how to protect children

as they move
through their lives.

Stewart: Scouting is about
preparing a young person

for life.

And fortunately
or unfortunately,

part of my Scouting experience
prepared me for life

in a different way.

♪♪

My brother is 11 years older
than I am,

so we didn’t do Scouting
together.

But, you know, I heard stories

that they had an associate
Scoutmaster in his troop

in the ’70s in Dallas

that, you know,
had relationships with youth

that just weren't proper.

♪♪

My brother was an all-state
football player

and, you know, big guy.

And I remember him telling me
the story about his Scoutmaster

coming in to his tent one night

and he just basically said,
you know, "Get off me,"

and, you know,
"I don’t want you to do that."

Kind of like, you know,
bullied him in a way

to, you know, get him off.

And that was kind of...
It was funny

´cause that was always
in my mind.

And then we moved here
in eighth grade,

and Camp Kikthawenund
up the road,

I had an experience where...

It’s funny,
´cause I can still smell him.

I can still think about
his image

and who that person
was at that point in time.

An adult volunteer,

you know,
did a very similar thing to me.

And unlike my brother, I didn’t
necessarily have the strength

or the ability
as an eighth grader to,

you know, kind of just
push him off

and say, you know,
"Stop. What are you doing?"

You know, I stopped
participating in Scouting

every single week
and things of that nature.

I know it stopped me
from going to certain events,

and I never told my parents
what happened.

I assumed they knew.

But thankfully,
my father kept pushing forward.

I mean,
I’m glad that Scouting

was not ripped away from me
because of my own experience.

That individual, you know,

doesn't represent Scouting
to me.

When you start hearing
that people at 52 years of age,

that was the average age that
most men who have been abused

will come to terms with that,

and I was right around
50 years of age.

So when I say that Scouting
prepares you for life,

I think the silver lining
in all of this is,

yeah, I was abused,

but I also was able to receive
healing through that.

I was also, you know, available
to understand the victims

and what they’re going through
right now,

anxiety and depression
and suicide.

I know those feelings.

♪♪

Our courts are going to
figure this out...

you know, how to fairly
compensate the victims.

The Scouts are going to
end up paying, you know,

billions of dollars
to settle these claims.

And they’re gonna
have to sell properties.

They’re gonna have to
liquidate things

like the Norman Rockwell
collection,

whatever those things are.

But I’m confident
Scouting will survive.

I’m hopeful Scouting
will survive.

[ Voice breaking ]
Sorry.

♪♪

Crew:
I’m grateful for the survivors

that trust us
with their stories,

their unbelievably
heartbreaking stories.

I can't tell you
how many have told me how...

they kind of divide their life
between before the abuse

and after the abuse
and how it changed

and how everything changed
at that moment in their life

and how so many of them
are haunted by...

They’re haunted
by who they would have become

if this never happened to them.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

Turley: I think it’s
my opportunity and obligation

to help make sure that Scouting
is the safest place for youth.

♪♪

I feel that is the place today.

We are incredibly safe.

I am so sorry
for what happened decades ago,

but I feel so good
about where we are today

and I know how committed
the organization is

to even continuing to improve
from here.

Jaquiss: And I remember
the Scout law that I learned,

you know,
45 years ago.

It changed my life
in many ways for the better.

But I wonder
how you weigh this.

So the benefit that you and I
got and millions of other people

got from Scouting
and the devastation

that it has wrought
on a significant number of men,

the good that it did
and the damage it did.

I’m glad these 82,000
came forward.

I’m glad we’re at a point
in time in our society

where people
will talk about abuse.

50 years ago, people didn’t
talk about abuse very often.

It was taboo.

And so I actually look
at the opportunities

to make places better.

Jaquiss: Reporters are all
about hindsight.

In hindsight,
do you wish that,

from a sort of financial
structure point of view,

that you had
declared bankruptcy earlier,

or did you do it
the right time?

You know, reporters might be
all around hindsight,

but I’m not, you know?

So I like to live my life
out the windshield,

not the rearview mirror.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

Jaquiss:
Before I was a reporter,

I was a commodity trader.

And if you buy a cargo
full of, say, wheat,

most of it’s gonna be good.

But some of the wheat’s
gonna be bad.

So there’s a cost
of doing business.

There’s collateral damage,
if you will.

What I began to understand

is that the Boy Scouts
are in a commodity business,

and the commodity is boys.

And the Scouts looked at some
boys as collateral damage.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Birds chirping ]

Humphrey:
You really can't go back

and think about reconstructing
circumstances

for a different outcome.

Some people have the fortitude
to power through,

and some don’t.

And it’s not strength
or weakness.

That’s the way abuse is.

But I have witnessed

at least 30 men
give their testimony

to a small group of people.

And every time, it makes me cry.

It’s just so sad.

[ Sniffles ]

That this innocence...

...this innocence
in these beautiful places,

in these wonderful camps,

in these architectures of God
in the wilderness

were turned into horrific
hellholes for young boys.

And you hear this guttural...

...sobbing when
a 75-year-old man

recounts something that happened
to him when he was 13,

as it was yesterday.

You...

When you hear that,
you understand alcoholism...

and drug abuse,

uh, because they’re just
trying to dull it down.

They got this little
record player in their head.

That never turns off, ever...
no matter what they’re doing.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Humphrey:
This is about figuring out

how to move from victim
to survivor.

And that’s a very profound
process.

[ Birds chirping ]

♪♪

And I don’t think you can put
a price on that.

♪♪

♪♪

Pretty spectacular out here,
isn’t it?

Director:
It is.

Calms my soul.

[ Geese honking ]

[ The Old Joe Clarks'
"Passers By" plays ]

♪♪

♪ I laid down ♪

♪ And I went to sleep ♪

♪ I guess the rain ♪

♪ Kind of pulled me deep ♪

♪ I don’t know ♪

♪ And I don’t ask ♪

♪ Just like the sound ♪

♪ Splashin' on the glass ♪

♪ And I have walked ♪

♪ Through a world of sin ♪

♪ Where I was born ♪

♪ Born again ♪

♪ Ain’t no saint ♪

♪ But I ain’t no worse ♪

♪ You’ll be the last ♪

♪ But you weren't the first ♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪ Passers by ♪

♪ On the road of life ♪

♪ Are we going somewhere ♪

♪ Or just passing time? ♪

♪ ´Cause I don’t know ♪