***MEDIA ALERT***
NEWS CONFERENCE TODAY
Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Filed Against Boy Scouts of America
Former Boy Scout alleges child molestation by Miami scout leaders
WHAT: Jeff Herman, a nationally recognized attorney for victims of sexual abuse, announces the filing of a lawsuit against Boy Scouts of America for child sexual abuse by Joseph “Pepe” Laurita and David Aiken, former Miami area scout leaders.
According to the Complaint:
- In early 1983, nine-year old JOHN DOE NO. 105 met JOSEPH LAURITA, a scout master of Troop 88 in Hialeah, Florida. Joseph Laurita sexually molested and abused John on repeated occasions, including sodomy. Laurita also photographed John in the nude.
- After several months of frequent sexual abuse, Laurita introduced John to DAVID AIKEN, the scoutmaster of Troop 21 and a leader in the Boy Scouts. Aiken was aware that Laurita had been sexually abusing John and other members of John’s troop. With that knowledge, Aiken began sexually abusing John.
- The Boy Scouts maintained secret files, known as “ineligible volunteer files” or “perversion files”, which contained the names of Boy Scout leaders and adult volunteers who were alleged to have or in fact did sexually molest or otherwise sexually abuse scouts. The Boy Scouts maintained such files on JOSEPH LAURITA and DAVID AIKEN.
JOHN DOE NO. 105 v. BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, INC. was filed in Miami-Dade County.