Boy Scouts complain of misleading ads to solicit victims

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Attorneys for the Boy Scouts of America are asking a federal judge in Delaware to take action to protect survivors of child sexual abuse from being misled or confused by advertisements from law firms about their ability to file claims in the organization’s bankruptcy case.

The Boy Scouts of America, based in Irving, Texas, sought bankruptcy protection in February in an effort to halt hundreds of individual lawsuits and create a huge compensation fund for men who were molested as youngsters decades ago by scoutmasters or other leaders.

The bankruptcy judge earlier this year established a Nov. 16 deadline for victims of child sex abuse to file claims in the bankruptcy case. She also approved processes for potential victims to be notified and submit their claims.

The notification process includes a nationwide paid media campaign of print, television, radio and online advertisements that is scheduled to begin Monday and run through Oct. 17. The Boy Scouts have said the notification program is expected to reach more than 100 million people, including more than 95% of the primary target audience of men age 50 and older. An expert for the Boy Scouts estimated that men in that age group account for more than half of former Boy Scouts and at least 71% of abuse survivors with pending claims against the BSA.

But in a court filing this week, attorneys for the Boy Scouts said several law firms — including firms that represent either members of the official bankruptcy committee for abuse victims or a group called the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice, which is also involved in the bankruptcy case — have engaged in their own advertising campaigns to try to solicit sexual abuse victims.

A lawyer for the Boy Scouts sent a cease-and-desist letter Aug. 10 to attorneys for the committee and the...