(888) 407-0224
PORTLAND, OR –
A former Portland Boy Scout filed a $5 million lawsuit today against the Boy Scouts of America and its local chapter (Cascade Pacific Council). The suit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges that the Plaintiff was sexually abused by notorious Portland-area Scout Leader named Calvin Malone after the Scout Leader was given a second – and third and fourth – chance by the Boy Scouts of America.
Malone is currently held on what is commonly known as “Sex Offender Island” – a special Washington State detention facility on McNeil Island that houses nearly 300 violent sex offenders. The only way on or off the island is by ferry.
“The evidence shows that Malone abused dozens of scouts over a decade – in Portland, California, Montana, Alabama, and even Europe – all after he was given a second, third and even fourth chance by the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts kept letting him back in – without ever telling scouts or parents about his history of abuse. These boys never stood a chance against Malone,” said attorney for Plaintiff Steve Crew.
Malone was first kicked out of Scouting in California around 1970, after sexually abusing a boy and getting caught giving alcohol to young boys. Boy Scout documents show that, around that time, the organization opened one of their secret files on Malone at their national headquarters. According to Boy Scout policies, this should have made Malone “ineligible” to be a Scout Leader in the future.
However, a couple of years later, in 1974, the Boy Scouts decided to give Malone another chance – hiring him as a paid employee and a Scout Leader despite that he had previously been banned from Scouting for giving alcohol to young boys and abusing a boy in California.
At the time the Boy Scouts rehired Malone in 1974, they sent a letter marked “Personal and Confidential” to the regional Oregon scout headquarter “alert[ing] [the local office] to be on the lookout for anything that might cause [them] to have concern about [Malone].”
Thereafter, in Portland, Malone was given free access to hundreds of boys. Malone was even allowed full-time use of the Scout-owned “Scout-mobile” – a van that Malone used to take boys on out-of-state camping trips (and abuse them). Malone recruited hundreds of boys into scout troops in the greater Portland area – and beyond.
“The Boy Scouts knew that Calvin Malone had broken the law involving children in the past, but they still chose to rehire him in Portland,” added Plaintiff’s attorneys, Peter Janci. “Parents enrolled their boys in scouts because they trusted the program and its leaders. The Boy Scouts of America betrayed the trust of the parents and the children they swore to protect.”
For their part, the Boy Scouts have destroyed the secret file they once created on Malone – although surviving letters written by Boy Scout officials confirm the creation of the file. Similarly, the Boy Scouts claim that other documentation about Malone – including rosters kept in their local offices in California, Montana and Alabama – no longer exist.
Read more about Calvin Malone here: Did You Know Scout Leader Calvin Malone?
Read the full complaint here.
If you or someone you care about was sexually abused and you would like advice from an attorney about the rights and options for victims of child sexual abuse, please contact Crew Janci LLP today for a free, confidential consultation at 1-888-407-0224 or by using our private online form. We will treat you with discretion and respect.
