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LEBANON, OR – An Oregon Boy Scouts of America leader was sentenced today to 282 months — more than 23 years — in prison for child sex abuse.
The Scout Leader — a man named Douglas James Young Jr. (47) — was first arrested in March 2017 after the Lebanon Police Department received a report that Young had inappropriate sexual contact with a child. The original charges stemmed from multiple incidents in 2017, and involve a boy under the age of 14.
Thereafter, police investigated and learned of more reported victims. According to media reports, the police located and interviewed those other victims (some of whom are now over 18 years old). Today, the Scout Leader also pled no contest to 11 other charges involving 9 victims, with crimes occurring between 2004 through 2016.
Prior to his arrest, Young was an active leader with the Boy Scouts of America. As a Scoutmaster, Young led local Boy Scout Troop 420, which met at the First Christian Church in Lebanon, Oregon.
Lebanon police said officers had prior contact with Young over the last 12 years. According to media reports, police documents show Young was questioned in the past about other allegations of sexual abuse. There is no information yet about how Young could continue as a Scout Leader despite previous allegations of child sexual abuse.
Young pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges of first-degree sex abuse, second-degree sex abuse, first-degree attempted sex abuse, third-degree attempted sex abuse and attempted use of a child in a sexual display. Young was sentenced to 23 1/2 years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.
In addition to his sentencing today, the District Attorney yesterday added three additional charges (bringing the total to 43 charges). The additional criminal charges describe conduct involving three additional victims.
According to media reports, Linn County prosecuting attorney ( Jonathan Crow) stated that “[Douglas Young] was in a position of authority and trust for years as a Boy Scout leader. He used that position to target and groom boys for his sexual gratification. Today, he has been held accountable and will be in prison for at least 20 years.”
The situation involving Douglas Young is only the most recent examples of a historical problem of tens of thousands of adult Scout Leaders sexually abusing children. Many of those situations were documented in secret files (called the “Perversion Files” or “Ineligible Volunteer Files”). Those secret files were maintained under lock and key at Boy Scouts of America headquarters. In many instances, the Boy Scouts of America did not report the allegations of child sexual abuse to law enforcement. Attorneys at Crew Janci were part of the legal team that won the first major release of a large portion of the Boy Scouts’ secret files on pedophile Scout Leaders. Those files are available on our website.
Attorneys at Crew Janci LLP have represented nearly 100 victims of sexual abuse in cases against the Boy Scouts of America around the country (with the assistance of local attorneys), including in: Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Minnesota, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York.
Here in Oregon, Crew Janci law firm has represented dozens of victims of sexual abuse in Scouting. Attorneys from Crew Janci were part of the Plaintiff’s trial team in the 2010 case of Kerry Lewis v. Boy Scouts of America, which resulted in a $19.9 million verdict for the victim.
