WARNING SIGNS

Pattern Found Among Scout Molesters

Analysis of 1,900 files revealed “grooming behavior.”

While some Boy Scouts are groomed to be upstanding citizens, others are subjected to a different kind of “grooming.” It’s a term psychologists use to describe a pattern of molestation by the thousands of men expelled from the Boy Scouts of America for sexual abuse. There’s no single profile of a predator, but an analysis by the Los Angeles Times of nearly 1,900 confidential files between 1970 and 1991 found many molesters gradually seduced young boys by luring them with gifts and favors or indulging them in naughty behavior (i.e., allowing them to drive cars, drink alcohol, or look at pornography). These men used tactics seen in convicted child molesters, testing physical boundaries during group showers, sleepovers, and one-on-one activities.