Former Boy Scout Executive Charged with Nearly Two Dozen Sex Offenses-Why Congress Needs to Act Now to Audit BSA Child Abuse Policies

It just keeps happening: child sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America!

William Todd Brewer was the Executive Director of the Chickasaw Council of Boy Scouts.  His duties included oversight of five Mississippi counties of Boy Scout troops.  Those responsibilities ended when he was arrested and charged with nearly two dozen sex offenses involving minors.  The charges range from fondling to forced oral sex.  Thus far, five survivors, all under the age of 16 years old, have come forward to accuse Brewer of child sex offenses.  According to law enforcement, all the crimes occurred between May and July 2012.  In addition to the child sex offenses, Brewer faces 10 counts of possession of child pornography.

Because Brewer had ingratiated himself with families and the community, he had easy access to young boys.  The most disturbing fact concerning this arrest is that it happened less than a year ago!  In October 2012, when we released the Boy Scouts Perversion Files, we heard Boy Scouts’ executives repeat to the public how things have changed, how their safety procedures would now prevent the future abuse of children.  But we continue to see episodes like this all over the country every few weeks.  It is this continuing pattern of abuse that led us to call on Congress to do an audit of BSA’s current child safety policies, so that improvements can be made and children better protected. So far, that request has fallen on deaf ears, both in Washington DC and in Irving, Texas, at BSA headquarters.