United Methodist churches across the United States are being instructed to reject the proposed sexual abuse settlement plan that is part of the Boy Scouts of America’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In a series of hurried meetings, the governing boards of local congregations known as “charges” are being instructed by denominational officials to vote against the BSA plan. According to leaders of the Dallas-based North Texas Annual Conference, the rejection comes after months of confidential negotiations with BSA by 100 church attorneys and treasurers. In one such North Texas meeting, Bishop Michael McKee told leaders of the region’s 80-church...

A Delaware County man has been arrested and charged for sexually abusing a child while he worked as a Boy Scout troop leader and as a teacher at a boarding school, officials said. Keith Steininger, 68, worked as a teacher at Girard College for 41 years before retiring in July of 2022. While at Girard College, he served as a troop leader for the school's Boy Scout troop. Officials say that on Jan. 25, 2024, the foster parent of a child who had attended Girard College called Upland Borough Police to report the assault after the child...

Anyone abused in the Boy Scouts of America could soon be allowed to seek financial damages.  That's if Gov. Ivey signs a new bill into law.

Officers in Newark, Delaware arrested a former Boy Scouts leader who was connected with sexual abuse within the organization across the country. Gary Matta, 66, was arrested in his home last Thursday, according to officials. Matta was charged with serial sexual abuse.

Houston police say sex crime charges have been filed against a man who was a scout leader with the Boy Scouts of America in the Spring area. HPD says Ulf Gerrit Lueders, 41, is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child and online solicitation of a minor. He has since been released on bond. According to HPD, Lueders was involved in the Boy Scouts of America's Sam Houston Area Council and was associated with Troop 111, Ship 846 and Crew 762, which are located in north Houston. “Investigators believe there may be additional victims and are...

The former youth protection director for the Boy Scouts of America said Tuesday the organization is not doing enough to protect children from sexual abuse and is still trying to maintain a veil of secrecy over decades of past abuse. In a speech at the National Press Club, Michael Johnson urged Congress to investigate the BSA’s efforts to cover-up decades of past abuse, as well as the dangers he said the organization still poses to children. “The Boy Scouts of America is not safe for kids. It is safer, but it is not safe for kids,” he said.

Walter Denton wanted to grow up to be just like Father Tony Apuron, until the night he says the parish priest raped him in a church rectory. The pastor sent the sobbing 13-year-old altar boy away with a warning: “If you say anything to anybody, no one will believe you.” Denton told his mother, but says she accused him of making it up. He told another priest, but that man did nothing and later turned out to be an abuser himself. And Denton watched helplessly as Pope John Paul II named his alleged rapist Archbishop of Agaña, the voice...

Jason J. Eaton, 48, was a full-time sales assistant for CUSO Financial Services in Williston, Vt., according to his LinkedIn account. He was terminated on Nov. 8 after working there for less than a year, said Elisabeth Rutledge, a company spokeswoman. From 2017 to 2022, he worked as a leader for a Cub Scout troop, according to his LinkedIn page. The Boy Scouts of America said Monday that Eaton had been an assistant scoutmaster in upstate New York and was last registered with the organization in 2021. Eaton is not currently a member of the organization and has...

The lawsuit alleges Mike Kessler, who is now deceased, ran a troop in Abilene, Texas and abused and molested the 13-year-old scout for several years. It also alleges Kessler attempted to have sex with the boy during a 1982 trip to Camp Dale Resler near Cloudcroft.