$250 Million Could Be Cut From Boy Scouts Settlement

As much as $250 million could be cut from the $2.7 billion trust fund established by the Boy Scouts of America for victims of sexual abuse after a judge rejected a provision of the deal made with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Laurie Silverstein ruled that the Boy Scouts must reopen negotiations with some of the groups that were included in the agreement. Although she rejected the argument that the settlement was not made in good faith, Silverstein did not approve the agreement after rejecting multiple provisions. One of these would have granted the church a “third party release” that would grant wide-ranging protections against sexual abuse claims, even those that do not involve the Boy Scouts.

“We are committed to working with all constituents to make the necessary changes required by the ruling to drive this process forward and we remain optimistic about securing approval of a final plan as soon as possible” the Boy Scouts told Bloomberg in a statement.

The organization filed for bankruptcy in February 2020 following a slew of lawsuits that emerged after multiple states altered their laws to allow victims to sue decades after the alleged abuse occurred.

"Throughout this case, what we've heard time and again from survivors is that it's not only about the money, because no amount of money in the world will make up for being sexually abused as a child," the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice, which represents the survivors of childhood sexual abuse in their lawsuits against the Boy Scouts, said in a statement. "The most important thing to them has been ensuring the safety of current and future scouts."

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