Hacker was my CCD teacher in the 1970s at St Louis DeMontefort. He and Father Maday were quite the team. I kept telling my parents they were strange and I didn't like them. My parents would get mad at me and tell me I was going to hell for talking like this about "men of god". Such stupidity on my parents part. I know who is going to hell now.

So what happens to the BSA for covering this up? A slap on the hand, and by the way don't let this happen again? Just as bad as the catholic church getting away with hiding it's perverts. Society needs to stand up and rip this organization apart as well as any other organization that thinks it is ok to hide these assaults from the public eye.

Good to see that there is nothing in our area and little in DuPage County. This supports the Scout's recent training and policies to protect the Scouts.

This one is probably not in the "files", but a neighbor of ours in LaSalle county was the local boy scout leader and little league coach. Got caught molesting boys on a boy scout trip and then committed suicide. On all appearances he was a nice guy, boy were we fooled.

My son is a scout. He loves scouting. This sickens me beyond my own belief that there has be yet another cover-up on adults abusing our children. These incidents are violent, obscene and sick. It's unfortunate that we have to educate our children to not trust those we allow to be in their lives. Glad that monster named in LaSalle County is dead. I am not a judgemental person, but these people need to all be tortured and killed. Rehab....these people are never reformed. Does a recovering alcoholic take a job in a bar? Keep this sick-bleeps the F away from our kids. And my those who are truly good and in it for our kids for healthy reasons always be protected.

Maybe we should have thought that it is not normal for a adult man wanting to play with little kids. Cause honestly any adult man who wants to play with kids are probably not normal.

I worked with Father Maday,and was teaching an Adult class the he was led out of the Rectory,in Handcuffs. He was and still is a monster. Speakingup,I agree the problem lies with the parents. Most of whom turn a deaf ear,to their children,when told of abuse because some parents just can't believe that a person they trusted could,or would do something so sinister to their child. After thousands,and thousands of abuse cases,there still is denial,from parents as well as the Catholic Church. The coverup,by the BSA,and the Catholic Church,are just as evil,and those in charge are just as guilty. And in my opinion when a child,is abused by a pedophile,there is no punishment fair enough,except death. The child forever is scarred,and must live with that another day. The pedophile can sit in his/or her cell and dream of another victim.

It sickens me to hear these cases... As a gay man and the stance that the Boy Scouts have towards my community, I pray this doesn't make the issue even more entrenched. We need to remember, pedophiles are from ALL aspects of life. I really think the Scouts need to consider women as leaders as well...

What is interesting is the fact that nearly every man in these perversion files held by the BSA were straight and married. Yet, the BSA blame the homosexuals and ban them from being members. Molestation of children is not homosexual behavior but somehow the BSA condemns homosexuals for behavior that these straight men did and do to this day. Such a wonderful organization.

@RobertS, you open up a whole can of worms introducing women into this organization. What about the school teachers having sex with students. You don't think that something similar is going to happen?

I was fondled by a scout leader who was also a religious leader in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood in the mid 70's. I was 11 and I punched him in the eye knocking him down and yelling at him. The next week I was asked to leave the troop because I did not believe in god. I joined another troop a year later and had no problems there (It was at a suburban park district), but an assistant scout leader was asked to leave because he was gay (which I found out years later). I gained so much from my time in the Boy Scouts of America. The boy scouts organization needs to clean up it's act by doing thorough background checks on scout leaders and filing legal action investigations quickly against all leaders accused of any wrong doings. They also need to stop being prejudiced against gay and atheist scouts and leaders. Maybe we should take away their merit badge for fairness. Every boy deserves a chance to participate in the boy scouts.

I think everyone of you need to remember the times that these cases took place. BSA has worked very hard to make sure things are well run and on the up and up. It is not the organizations fault. As someone stated in an earlier comment - "Please don't blame your parents. It was the times." - Don't blame the BSA it was the individual leaders. There will always be a few bad apples in any organization.

BSA has several regulations in place to prevent such things from happening. If the news organizations really cared about reporting facts - how has the number of cases changed over the years? I would place bets that today the number of cases is much much lower.

Today BSA reports all cases to the proper authorities, we do back ground checks on all adults registering and make sure that an adult is never alone with a youth. Compare these current rules and regulations to what was in place years ago.

Congratulations to the BSA for recognizing a problem and doing everything they can to correct it. So that we can continue to offer young men the ultimate leadership training experience.

Why do ignorant people always have to blame the church it sucks that one bad apple can ruin the bunch... Why does everyone have to blame the Catholic church the Boy Scouts are in public schools as well not just in Catholic churches but its ignorance that you judge God's Church to blame for these cases. Thats like blaming the parents of a child for something the child does when the parent is not there. Give me a break with all the blaming and shame on all of who want to sit there and blame the church so much that you turn your back on God for some pervert dont blame God blame the person. If any of you even believed in so much of there being a God then you know the truth and God will take care of it if not have mercy on your soul because you will be burning in hell right next to the perverts!!!! Go to church and ask God to save your souls now for being so disrespectful to God!!

So many really good people invest and volunteer their otherwise free time into the lives of these kids. The idea represented by Ms. Smith that there is something abnormal (or wrong) with men in our society being interested in building up the next generation is sad at best-and outrightly destructive at worst.

This all goes back to supply and demand. Put a bunch of young people (boys or girls) together and the predators will infiltrate the organization. The organization needs to not turn the other cheek. The organization needs to start checking, by performing background checks, giving mental evaluations, shadowing those adults that are volunteering or working with these youth or religious groups.

I am very glad that my son was neither a Boy Scout nor an altar boy! He was a cub scout but I was his Den Mother and he never wanted to go on to Scouts.

These are tragic stories of abuse. It would be interesting to find out how many of these Scout groups were associated with churches- specifically Catholic churches. It is interesting to note the BSA terminated the membership of these abusers as compared to the Catholic church who just transferred their abusers outside of the area.

I do wonder if some of these terrible situations weren't reported to the authorities simply due to lack of enough evidence to successfully prosecute. The BSA is put in the awful situation of not wanting to ruin someone's reputation if they're not absolutely sure what went on, while at the same time terminating the membership of the abuser to get them out of dealing with kids.

I've never been associated with Scouts other than volunteering as an outsider for various events. But from my little knowledge of their operations I believe they have some pretty stringent requirements in place nowadays as to how the adults have to interact with the kids.

It's very sad that there is even one situation of abuse, but tens of millions of kids have been involved in scouting in the years since these events were recorded, and one would expect that the same criminals would be involved in the same percentage in any organization.

The gay issue is really clear to me. Any man who is abusing young boys is obviously gay. There's no other way to look at it. So yes, making sure that gays aren't part of the organization would have prevented these atrocities from happening.

Mike I think that you are a little off-base on that comment. Because you like to abuse young boys does not make you gay it makes you a monster. I am not gay but I do have an open mind to alternative lifestyles and respect those that make certain choices that don't have a negative impact upon others. You need to understand and open your eyes to things before throwing that out there. Hate to go down the religion road but the Catholics don't believe in recognizing gays but these priest molested young boys, so are they gay? Obviously going against all that they were taught and believe in, or are they just monsters?

Men who sexually abuse boys are indeed gay. What is so difficult to understand about that? The priests who abused young boys were also gay. See a pattern there?

Being a current Cub Scout Den Leader and my husband being a current Boy Scout Leader, because our boys are young, this is all very unsettling. Which is why as parents, regardless of the organization or church, as a parent you HAVE to be involved, which is why we chose to be leaders. The BSA has learned (to some extent) because of these situations. Each leader yearly has to go through a course on just this subject (can't remember the name of the actual course right now). There is ALWAYS supposed to be two leaders present, no leader can be alone with a boy, and the boys can never be alone they always have to use a buddy system, even if just to go to the washroom, especially then actually. Each volunteer has to take this course. Is it 100% full proof? I'm sure it's not, as with any system put in place. But if you have good leaders and parents are involved to teach and protect their children, it works, But it only works with parental involvement. I see way to many people using organizations as a baby sitting service.

As for the gay aspect,personally I do know the Scouts do not teach this is their curriculum. Are they against gays? Yes, but they do no teach bigotry, that begins at home. Again, it comes from the parents. Are the Scouts wrong in their actions against gays? Absolutely, but it's the parents job to teach them that. There are way more benefits for a child in Scouts, than bad. Like someone said, one bad apple doesn't spoil the bunch,

Don't get me wrong, I didn't say I'm for it, I'm going by our own experience with Scouts. Our Scout Troop does NOT teach bigotry and does not condone these actions. My husband and I were actually on the fence regarding leaving Scouts when a LOT of the gay issues came up, as was many of the other leaders we spoke with. Fortunately we have good leaders. Both my boys want to get the Eagle Scout. Eagle Scout is a tool they can use their entire lives, not just a season on the football field. The leadership skills and real life skills they are taught go way beyond anything a school can teach.

What I was trying to say is bigotry starts at home, if you condone it in your home, your child learns it regardless of whether they are a Scout or not. A parent is a child's first and last teacher and protector. More parents need to step up, take responsibility for their children, quit pawning them off on every and any sport or activity they can so they don't have to be the parent, and be the parent! Instead of just dropping your kid off, stay and watch, listen and learn what your child is. It is your responsibility as a parent to be a parent, not just the one putting the money up so your kid shuts up and gives you an hour of quiet time.

I find this incredibly sad. My brothers and I went through the Boy/Girl Scout program. My father was a Cubmaster and Scoutmaster; my mom was a den mother and "badge mother" for my Girl Scout troop. My parents just wanted to be involved in their children's lives, help other kids whose families weren't as stable as mine, and create some great family memories. After reading these files, I hope the BSA especially, cleans up its act. I'd hate to think that my parents wasted their time.

Reading your articles and seeing the research you put into this article Lorraine, obviously your parents didn't waste their time. They were parents, as it should be.

Here's one thing I think everyone can agree on. One case of child molestation is too many.
If any organization defends, protects, covers up any crime on a child. It should be destroyed.

While even one child abused is a heinous crime, the Boy Scout report, like the one on the Catholic Church, shows that only .005% of the scout leaders were abusers. The same results are found across criminals in other organizations as well such as schools, sports teams, volunteer groups, etc.

The common factor of the criminals within these groups, however, is that they were homosexuals preying upon post-pubescent boys, trying to their fill their ephebophilia same-sex urges.

I am certainly not surprised by this, though I am sickened by it. Any activity that involves little boys, especially when the people involved do not have children, has always been suspect to me. Priesthood attracts homosexuals because they do not allow them to marry. Scout troops, sports teams, etc are all loaded with perverts who know they can have access to potential victims.

The Boy Scouts of America was founded on the principals that boys need to spend more time outdoors, learning about the beauty of nature. Obviously there is much the Boy Scouts have to answer for. We do not have children so someone can abuse and molest them. Attention on child abuse finally resulted in mandated reporting in 1970. Teachers were required to report suspected abuse. Today there is awareness on every level, and our children are much better protected. They can be happy and enjoy their childhood, and Scouting. I was a Scout as a youth and none of our leaders were pedophiles. As an adult Scout leader our Troop protects our boys. We have no leaders who do not or did not have children in our Troop, Additionally, every adult has to take Youth Protection training or he or she cannot camp with the Troop. This training tells what to do in cases of suspected abuse. We do not allow a youth and adult to be alone together. We call that two-deep leadership. We also look for bullying, taunting, hazing and any other inappropriate behavior by the boys themselves. Scouting has changed and the Boy Scout Troops in Lemont are clean because we have a great deal of parent involvement: we all get to know each other, we appreciate and understand that the boys are special and we want them to grow into responsible adults. Visit a Troop meeting. You will see boys learning skills they can use in life, the boys run the meetings, they have fun, and they are happy.

I cannot believe poster Care Bear Here is allowed to post on this website anymore!! The racist comments and innuendo are blatant and inflamatory! The post that the editor removed was disgusting, the one put in its place wasn't as bad, but still racist in tone. Others have been banned for far less, so what gives? Special treatment?

You guys need to take a course in critical thinking and stop reading into my comments. If a male is attracted to a male then they are gay. That's called a definition. Now we get to apply that definition to what we are able to ascertain about a situation. These Scout leaders who were male and who were attracted to the young male Scouts are therefore gay. If you want to get technical about it then they are bi-sexual if they are married. Pick your perversion.

Personally I think rapists, molesters and pedophiles should be marked in some way they can not cover up and is clearly visible at all times, IF and only if, they are found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (like DNA or witnesses). Then let lose into the public. Cheaper on the tax payers and an example to society and they live in fear of what the public may do to them for the rest of their lives, much like the victim being scarred the rest of their lives and living in fear.

It's two fold.....Unfortunately it is against their rights. Fortunately for all of us, we do have all the same rights.

Too bad this couldn't be one of those....sometimes rules are made to be broken, at least to protect our children.

If you Boy Scout bashing hypocrites were really so concerned about our kids/youth you'd pay more attention to what "our" government has been up to. Our kids are growing up with useless wars, massive debt, the end of our civil liberties, dead end jobs, a totally inadequate (but expensive) education, an out of control number of third world immigrants they will have to compete with, mandatory poison pharmaceutical drugs, cancer causing GMO's, on and on ...... I'll spell it out for you ignorant hypocrites, "they got no future 'cause all you do is sit on your a-- with no thought other than sports and sex". Historically the ones pointing the finger are most often guilty of the very thing they are accusing someone else of doing.

I have to retype. Emily - pick a town and stay in that 'patch' - nobody needs your opinions on events in our town. You dont live here for a reason which is why we enjoy it where we live. I have never seen someone troll all the suburbs of Chicago and post their opinions on every topic.

Actually, this post is posted on all the Patches and all linked to this thread. Many of them are when it concerns more than just one town.

If the conversation here cannot stay on point regarding the Boy Scouts and the confidential files — and persists in drifting into insults about race, intelligence, grammar and the ability to spell — we'll suspend the comment thread.

The post is published on Patches throughout the Chicago area because the case files extend throughout the area. The issue in its broadest sense is not limited to a single community or troop. As files are released, individual Patches will pursue localized reports.

I've stricken several comments from this thread for violating the terms of service, including those of The Care Bear.

Folks, you can disagree without being disagreeable.

Ignore Emily ! She hates religion too and she attacks anyone she disagrees with!

Put a damn GPS in the scum bag child molesters and castrate them after they are convicted!

Even better yet lock up all child molesters for life in a cell 24/7 and give them electro shock treatment everyday until they drool on themselves!

We should all be supporting the former children/children these unimaginable acts happened to. Stick to the issue this article was written about....not arguing. To take advantage of a child and to instill that kind of fear into them is an unforgivable crime. I hope all the names of these monsters are put on the front cover of every major news paper out there....then lock them up and throw away the key.

Comments on this post are now set to moderate overnight. We'll review them and publish in the morning.

I graduated from St Louis DeMontefort in 1982, Father Mayday and Mr Hacker were working there at that time. I never joined the Cub scouts or became an later boy like my siblings did.

I knew Mark and Stephanie Hacker (Hackers children), very nice kids and got a long well with everyone. Ft Mayday was strange, according to students who worked with him he would offer .25 cents if you gave him a neck massage...freakin gross!

I'm not sure if pedophilia has anything to do with being gay, since most pedophiles are straight married men. Either way this cover up by the church and cub scouts is disgusting to say the least, As a Father of an 8 year old boy I would only be satisfied with the death penalty for each of these sick and twisted calculated perverted rejects. I hope there is a hell so they can dwell in it for all eternity.

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local/fox_cities/pedophile-ex-priest-makes-plea-to-judge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwe7II17Sac

The whole thing just makes me sad because it is the few, the exception that are the reason the majority of us adult leaders are being judged today. We put our heart into scouting & it is hard to take when someone blindly steps all over it based on the actions of a few. I have come into scouting recently & have strived to be the best example I can be for my children, other peoples children & the adults I train. The adults I volunteer with & myself all have the youth's best interest at heart & strive every day to help them become the best they can be & to keep them safe at all times. What has happened in the past is inexcusable but it does not mean ALL scout leaders behave that way.

Can we get the secret files for all the public school teachers that did the same heinous crimes from the 1960's -- 1990's or are they exempt. Can we get the secret files on the Jewish synagogues, YMCA's, Boys Clubs, Lutheran Church, etc, or are they exempt too.

Molesters come in all shapes and sizes. The Boy Scouts are not alone in not disclosing information on these criminals, it was just the way things were handled back then -- internally.

Today, we have tremendous awareness of the problem and control of the situations so the molesters have gone underground, like in the their basement looking at children on the internet.

Sad but true, this is a problem across all people. But realize, folks, this is .005% of the population.

Glad the scout and alot if parents do things differently now. We are now taught to stand up for our selves and not to believe any authority, when it comes to our bodies. Informing our children/ listening to all accusations / taking action. Is the only power against these sickos!

I am a member of this organization and the changes in it, since I joined, have been astonishing. There is Youth Protection Training, 2 Deep Leadership required and, instead of reporting to the Council first, you call the police first. You can request a copy of a report by Dr Janet I Warren's report and you can also ask about the Scoutings 5 Point Plan to Combat ALL child abuse. To be a leader, you have to go through a rigorous background check and you have to be trained in Youth Protection. We also STRONGLY encourage parents to step up and to lead and to get trained. Vigilance is what protects our youth - not turning your head or ignoring the problem. And, I have to tell you, even if you tell the police and call, they don't always file charges or do anything - so this 'secret' list is sometimes the only way that the Organization can keep those we don't want near our scouts away. Unfortunately, we can't just look at someone and see a molester - and, unfortunately, everyone ASSUMES that molesters are gay (and traditionally they are white married men!), and they are not. Molesting someone is not about being gay - it's about power and control and getting your rocks off on someone else's fear. We have to empower our youth to stand up against anyone who pushes them to do things they don't want to do - and to REPORT IT. Scout leaders are now REQUIRED to report any allegations or suspicions or anything that doesn't feel right. It's up to the police department from there.

Edward - the fact sheet that you mention is actually a whole pamphlet in the front of EACH of the Cub Scout level books and parents are required to cover that material with their scouts. It has been in for the last 15+ years that I can remember, and, unfortunately I don't believe that all parents are as vigilant as they need to be. IF a parent ignores a child, and a child then comes to a leader, we, as leaders, are required to report any abuse that a child tells us about. I have reported a suspected case of physical abuse, because the scout talked to me, and the child was removed from that parent's custody. The other parent was then given custody, and the child has turned out to be a warm, loving and wonderful young man. We still keep in contact and I am thankful that he trusted me with his story.

To SoeakingUp,
I'm actually very angry at your patents ignorance. If any of my 3 kids came to me about something that just didn't seem proper I would never ever turn my head on them without investing at least privately first. Past times or present times. I'm sorry you had to go through any of that. Mary

The scouts have extensive training on this and show the boys a video. Unfortunately, any place where children gather can place them in harms way, even a playground. So sad. Any change in behavior should make a parent suspicious.

I saw one Oprah show that I will never forget, and it spelled out EXACTLY how these people work:

They will spot a child who may be a bit under confident or damaged. Then they befriend the parent, faking things in common. Then they may wait up to ONE YEAR before they strike. By then the child and family might love the guy as a family friend, or Uncle type. That is what is called, “grooming” the child. THEN they wait until there is enough trust to take the kid for a camping trip, or with HIS family on vacation. By that time, they know exactly what to do, what they can get away with, and they KNOW that kid won’t tell. By that time, THE KID, AND EVEN THE PARENTS ARE HELPLESS TO STOP IT. After writing that, I have to go take a shower.

Parents should ask themselves one question: Is there a friend of ours who pals around with our kid, when we are not around? If so, no matter how close you are to that friend, no matter how much you trust him, sit down with your kid and have a LONG TALK.

My heart goes out to anybody who went through that horrible pain. Things were much different back then. Men were free to rape their wives, if they did not consent to sex. There was NO SUCH THING as date-rape. If a kid was abused, many authorities looked the other way, or gave the perp 1 month in a psyche ward. If pulled over for driving drunk, the Cop might let it go, and escort you home. Family secrets were always swept under the rug, never to be revealed to the light of day.