Legal news for Oregon attorneys handing sexual crime cases. The Boy Scouts of America was ordered to pay $18.5 million to victim.
The Boy Scouts of America were ordered to pay $18.5M in punitive damages regarding a sexual abuse lawsuit.
Portland, OR—The man who filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America for the sexual abuse he endured by a former assistant Scoutmaster in Portland in the 1890’s has been awarded $18.5 million in punitive damages. The Oregon jury also awarded the man $1.4 million in compensatory damages during the first phase of the trial, which took place April 13, as reported by USA Today and previous coverage by Justice News Flash.
On Friday, April 23, 2010, Kerry Lewis was awarded the multi-million dollar sum, which may be the first of many finical windfalls that the Boy Scouts will endure. The Scouts are also facing a series of other sex abuse lawsuits filed by other victims in the same Oregon court. During the first phase of the trial, the jury decided that Boy Scouts were negligent in allowing Timur Dikes, the former assistant Scoutmaster to associate with the Scouts, after Dykes confessed to a Scouts official that he had molested 17 boys in 1983. The jury decided to award Lewis $1.4 million in punitive damages as a result, and decided that the Scouts were liable for punitive damages, which were to be determined during the second phase of the trial. The jury award $18.5 million in punitive damages during that second phase.
The Scouts are planning to appeal the verdict. Sixty percent of the punitive damages are reportedly going to the Oregon crime victims fund under state law.
Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for Oregon lawyers handing sexual crime cases.
