A police youth program is plagued by sexual abuse allegations across the U.S.
www.nbcnews.com
Explorer posts, overseen by the Boy Scouts, are supposed to foster an interest in policing. They have faced nearly 200 allegations of misconduct.

Birchmore’s case is among at least 194 allegations that law enforcement personnel, mostly policemen, have groomed, sexually abused or engaged in inappropriate behavior with Explorers since 1974, an ongoing investigation by The Marshall Project has found. The vast majority of those affected were teenage girls — some as young as 13.

…

The officers accused of abusing teenagers spanned the ranks, from patrolmen to police chiefs. Some were department veterans cited in news articles for their community work. A handful had served their agencies for barely a year. And some were married men with families of their own.

  • djsoren19@yiffit.net
    461·
    7 months ago

    Say it isn’t so, American cops abusing their power to abuse the weak and defenseless? Thankfully it’s just several thousand bad apples, no sense working towards anything resembling police reform.

    • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
      15·
      7 months ago

      Actually, it was only (jfc) one third. But many of those that were reprimanded got off light or even reoffended. One was abusing a child family member after a light punishment.

      If I had kids, I wouldn’t let them near anything sponsored by or affiliated with the Boy Scouts.

      • infinitevalence@discuss.onlineEnglish
        161·
        7 months ago

        I won’t try to convince you otherwise but I had to make this decision. I decided that the only way I was comfortable was by joining the pack leadership. BSA has had problems and will again not because of the organization but because the people looking for targets will go where the pray is.

        The organization trains every pack leader and each year there are courses that are required for both kids and parents to help educate, and protect kids.

        If my pack has a pedophile they hide it amazingly well. We enforce the buddy system for both adults and kids. The only time a kid is able to be alone with an adult is in their own tent and when they are a family unit.

        But if my kids going to a meeting so am I or another family member I can trust. Hopefully vigilance am me education will be enough.

        • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
          31·
          7 months ago

          BSA has had problems and will again not because of the organization but because the people looking for targets will go where the pray is.

          Don’t predators join because BSA has a history of hiding pedophiles? We’re only just finding out about this after decades of abuse. You can’t claim it’s not the organizations fault

          • infinitevalence@discuss.onlineEnglish
            1·
            7 months ago

            I am not claiming its not their fault, but im not sure that its the history of abuse that attracts abusers, I really think its because its a volunteer based organization and there are kids in it so it makes them accessible to abusers.

            The point I was trying to make is that it really comes down to your local leadership, and the parents in your pack. We have a good pack, we have involved leadership, and the guidance from the larger BSA organization when applied seems to be working.

            Any time you have kids, and an organized group where adults interact with them you will have this risk. Summer camps, Schools, Sports clubs, anything. If you look at the history of nearly all kid enrichment programs you will find pedophiles and abusers.

            I had two in my high school both of whom were teachers of mine, and I only found out years after. One was protected by the administration, the other hid is paedophilia in a buried chest in the woods for years.

        • infinitevalence@discuss.onlineEnglish
          1·
          7 months ago

          Headline from the BSA today: “BSA Joins Forces with the Department of Homeland Security on the Launch of the Know2Protect™ Public Awareness Campaign to Combat Online Child Exploitation and Abuse”

          I just think its fair to point out they are trying, even if I dont love the larger organization. I definitely enjoy my pack.