A jury in Waterbury has awarded $7 million to a former Connecticut Boy Scout who claims he was sexually abused by his troop leader and an older scout in the mid-1970s. The jury found the Boy Scouts of America liable for compensatory damages as well as for punitive damages for recklessness; the punitive damages will be determined at a later time by the judge.
The plaintiff’s lawyers claim that the Boy Scouts of America knew for decades before the 1970s that child sexual abuse was widespread in troop activities across the country but did nothing to educate parents, troop leaders or scouts.
