2 Former Madison Residents File Lawsuit over Sex Abuse While in the Boy Scouts

By Alexandra Sanders
Middletown Press
February 22, 2012

http://middletownpress.com/articles/2012/02/21/news/doc4f442b1726474944409251.txt

MADISON — Two former residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that they were sexually abused by a local Troop 490 scoutmaster when they were Boy Scouts in the mid-1980s.

The lawsuit, filed against the Boy Scouts of America on a national level and the Connecticut Yankee Council, alleges that the two men were sexually abused over a year and a half when the boys were 13 to 15 years old by David "Dirk" Davenport when he was their scoutmaster, and BSA did nothing to prevent the alleged incidents from occurring.

The abuse allegedly occurred on multiple occasions in 1983 and 1984, often in connection with scouting activities at Davenport's home; St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Madison, where scout meetings occurred; and at Camp Deer Lake in Killingworth, a Boy Scout camp.

The two boys, now men in their early 40s, are listed as John Roe No. 1 and John Roe No. 2 in the lawsuit to protect their identities. The two alleged victims are coming forward years later because they have finally come to terms with the alleged abuse, according to their attorneys. In Connecticut, victims of sexual abuse have until 30 years after their 18th birthdays to bring legal action for abuse.

"It is common misconception that these cases are repressed memory cases. That is very rare," said Kelly Clark of Portland, Ore., one of the attorneys representing the men. "This is denial. When someone is betrayed by someone they trust … they choose not to think about it."

Davenport, 74, who is not named in the lawsuit, was arrested in 1984 and convicted in 1985 in New Haven Superior Court after pleading guilty to fondling and showing pornography to boys from his scouting troop. According to Clark and their other attorney, Frank Bartlett of Cheshire, Davenport was sentenced to 10 years in prison and served four years with six suspended. Davenport reportedly resides in Thailand.

The lawsuit alleges that BSA "knew or should have known" that Davenport had molested boys in Montana, Nebraska and Minnesota in the 1970s while involved with scouting.

"It was a pattern around the nation in the 1980s where it was common for individuals to get busted, move to another place and (re-engage in) scouting," said Clark.

According to the lawsuit, the Boy Scouts of America keeps a set of confidential Ineligible Volunteer Files that contained "perversion files," which dated back to the 1920s, that contained the names of alleged or suspected pedophiles.

The files are not yet public but Clark said he and Bartlett have obtained them from sources and a "perversion file" regarding Davenport does exist, but it was not placed in the BSA's national filing system until after his conviction in 1985.

"The purpose of the files is to keep bad scouts out of scouting," said Clark. "The problem is they keep the files secret. They will tell the story of what the BSA knew about child abuse in its troops, when BSA knew it and what BSA did and did not do about it."

The Connecticut Yankee Council said in a statement Tuesday that the "Ineligible Volunteer Files exist solely to keep out individuals whose actions are inconsistent with the standards of scouting and scouts are safer because of them."

The lawsuit further claims that the organization had "specialized knowledge that its program was being targeted by pedophiles and took no steps to modify the program or warn local troops, scouts or their families.

Clark acknowledged that in the late 1980s BSA began changing its policies to prevent molestation, including barring scoutmasters from being with scouts one on one, and he added that in the 1990s BSA also began conducting criminal background checks and reporting child abuse became mandatory. Clark said it was only after a successful trial in 2010 in Portland, Ore., that youth protection training became mandatory. According to the BSA website, it is required every two years.

Clark analogized the alleged incidents that occurred with scouts involved with BSA to the sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and stressed that litigation helps push for change in these situations.

"With all due respect, the Catholic Church didn't (change) because the bishops got the Holy Spirit, it was because the bishops got sued," he said.

In the Connecticut Yankee Council statement, child abuse is deemed "abhorrent and intolerable."

"Today, anyone suspected of abuse is immediately removed from Scouting, reported to law enforcement and Scout executives and added to our Ineligible Volunteer Files," it says.

Mark Cheffo, a New York-based attorney who has reportedly represented BSA on a national level, could not be reached for comment.

"One of the things that was really important to me was the opportunity to tell my story so other parents can be aware of what lurks with strangers or people who they work with on an everyday basis," said John Roe no. 1. "There needs to be more awareness for parents."

Roe no. 1 added that he hopes the lawsuit will make it easier for other abuse victims to come forward.

The lawsuit claims that the abuse damaged the two Madison men emotionally and psychologically in ways that included clinical depression, anxiety, loss of faith and trust and serious problems with addiction, among other things.

"These men have had a road of salient shame and they have a long way to go to find healing and closure," said Bartlett.

The suit is seeking monetary damages, costs, attorney's fees and punitive damages in an amount greater than $15,000.

Contact: asanders@nhregister.com