New lawsuits filed in Portland against Boy Scouts for sex abuse
Four new lawsuits were filed this morning in Multnomah County against the Boy Scouts of America on behalf of four men who claim they were abused by a convicted sex offender while at official scout activities. The plaintiffs asked for more than $5 million each and claim scouts knowingly transferred former scout master and current convicted sex offender Steven Terry Hill to the Portland area. The lawsuits name the Boy Scouts of America along with the Cascade Pacific Council, the local affiliate. The suit does not name Hill himself, who was released from prison in April after being convicted of sex abuse in an unrelated case, but documents do claim Hill was moved to Oregon in 1976 to start a new troop called “Troop 76,” a high octane, elite style scout troop that would often rappel down mountains, go whitewater rafting and other extreme sports. This despite Hill being accused of sex assault by a teen in California. A prison deposition shows Hill talked to two executives in Oregon and California discussing the accusation and his past before his transfer to Oregon. “Steven Terry Hill was accused at the very least,” said Steve Crew, of O’Donnell Clark and Crew LLP. “Our belief is that they were told that he was actually an abuser and he was transferred nonetheless.” With today’s filings seven former scouts have brought lawsuits against the Boy Scouts. They all claim the organization knew Hill was abusing the boys as early as 1975 or before but continued to look the other way. Last year a judge ordered the organization to pay nearly $20 million dollars to another Portland man, molested by a different scout leader in the 1980’s.
