MARYLAND
Herald-Mail
October 19, 2012|By C.J. LOVELACE | cj.lovelace@herald-mail.com
In the wake of the release of decades of confidential sexual-abuse allegations within the Boy Scouts of America, a local Scouting official said Friday that the organization remains committed to protecting youth and providing a safe environment above all else.
“Safe-guarding the Scouts is the number one priority for the Scouting organization,” said Mark Barbernitz, Scout executive for the Mason-Dixon Council of the BSA, which oversees approximately 2,300 kids and about 100 troops of Scouts in Washington County as well as parts of Franklin and Fulton counties in Pennsylvania. …
The Rev. Tim Leighton, pastor of Church of the Holy Trinity UCC in Halfway since 2006, said their congregation will continue to support Boy Scout Troop 136 and the Cub Scout pack that meet at the church.
“The congregation as a whole has been very supportive of Scouting, both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, for a number of years,” Leighton said. “The Scout troop has done several service projects.”
Leighton, who also took part in the Scouts as a kid, said the church has not considered re-evaluating its relationship with the organization despite the abuse allegations, adding that Troop 136 leaders are very conscientious of the parents and adults that work with the kids.
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