KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A convicted Kansas City, Missouri, child molester is among the thousands of names released as part of the Boy Scouts of America’s so-called “perversion files” ordered released on Thursday by order of the Oregon Supreme Court.
David James Nelson, 55, who was convicted in 2011 of abusing a young boy in Leawood and is currently serving time in a Kansas prison, was listed in 1990 by the Boy Scouts as a suspected child molester.
The files were ordered released as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America over allegations that the organization did not do enough to protect children from predators. The “perversion files” stretch from 1965 to 1985, and are a list of people who were banned from Boy Scouts over allegations that they abused boys – although the list does include people who were considered to be undesirable by Boy Scouts for other reason not related to abuse, including homosexuality.
According to the documents, a Boy Scout accused Nelson of “rubbing his neck,” then later touching his buttocks in a swimming pool.
The allegations were investigated by the Missouri Division of Family Services, who determined that there was reason to suspect that the boy was fondled in a “sexually-implied” manner by Nelson, who denied the allegations.
Nelson was then kicked-out of Boy Scouts, but was never charged by prosecutors over those specific allegations.
However, Nelson was convicted in Johnson County, Kansas, in May of 2011 of aggravated indecent solicitation with an 8-year-old boy, and was sentenced to 32 months in the Eldorado Correctional Facility in Eldorado, Kansas.
According to the documents released on Thursday, Boy Scouts of America dismissed some 5,000 men and a few women over the 20-year period of the “perversion files.” While the people listed in the files were banned from the Boy Scouts, the organization is accused of not passing the information onto authorities for prosecution.
The Boy Scouts of America released a statement apologizing to families for failing to protect the children in their charge. The attorneys who led to fight to get the files released say that the Boy Scouts deserve some credit for admitting failure.
“But very rarely will you see an organization stand up and say ‘we blew it. We the organization blew it.’ And the Boy Scouts essentially said that and I think they should get some credit for that,” said attorney Kelly Clark.
Clark, who represents clients suing the Boy Scouts of America over alleged sexual abuse, is asking Congress to audit the organization’s current abuse policy to see if it’s effective in protecting children.
The Boy Scouts of America was created through a Congressional charter in 1910.
EDITORS NOTE: The Boy Scout’s “Perversion Files” are a list of people who had been dismissed from scouting because of alleged child abuse, along with those who were terminated from the Boy Scouts of America because they were accused of being gay, among other reasons. The people listed in the files, which are now part of the public record, have not necessarily been charged or convicted of any crime. Click here to see the files.
