(888) 407-0224BayNews9.com
Friday, May 21, 2010
PINELLAS COUNTY (Bay News 9) — Attorneys filed a lawsuit in the St. Petersburg Civil Courthouse Friday morning against the Boy Scouts of America on behalf of three sexual abuse victims.
The mother of one of the victims, whose last name will not be used for privacy, says Steven Greenleaf, a former New Port Richey boy scout troop master, sexually abused her son.
"When my son was 9 years old, his childhood and spirit were stolen from him," Jennifer said. "Something he will never get back."
In 2009, a jury found Greenleaf guilty of exposing himself to boys and molesting one of his three victims.
The case happened in 2007 and Greenleaf is now serving a 12-year prison sentence.
"Steven Greenleaf is a monster and so are the Boy Scouts and their chapters because they failed to protect our children," said Jennifer.
Jennifer wants the Boy Scouts of America and its local affiliate, the West Central Florida Council, to pay for the sexual abuse.
Her attorneys say they hope the civil lawsuit proves the abuse could have been prevented.
"The Boy Scouts had the responsibility to ensure that a child predator like Steven Greenleaf was not given authority to be a scout master and was not properly monitored," said Joseph Saunders, one of Jennifer’s attorneys.
The Boy Scouts executive director of the West Central Florida Council said the council hadn’t been served yet, so he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit.
The suit seeks more than $15,000 in damages.
