A South Florida man filed a lawsuit Monday saying he was abused by his Boy Scout leaders back in the 1980s. He describes them as monsters.
"I just can't take it. I'm tired of being angry. I'm tired of being miserable," said the man, who does not want to be identified. "I am tired of not being the man I can potentially be with my kids."
The man, in his mid-30s now, said the abuse happened when he was between the ages of 10 and 12.
He and his attorney, Jeffery Herman, stood on the sidewalk outside the Boy Scouts of America building in Miami Lakes and described how the scoutmasters would exchange information on the boy.
"He was passed around from Boy Scout leader to Boy Scout leader, and ended up going to Boy Scout camp in the Orlando area," Herman said. "When he arrived, there were other Boy Scout leaders waiting for him to come, and he was sexually abused there."
David Aiken, a registered sex offender in Colorado, is one of the former scoutmasters accused in the lawsuit. Joseph Laurita is the other.
According to the lawsuit, Laurita "...began touching John Doe when he would give him candy. Laurita also began to show John Doe pornographic magazines to gauge John Doe's reaction."
The complaint goes on and on, detailing repeated alleged instances of sexual abuse.
The alleged victim emphasized how the abuse has had a tremendously negative impact on his life.
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And, he said, there was no help in the form of therapy from the Boy Scouts.
"If you break your arm, or you get a scab on your knee, if you have the proper authority figure in your life to help you, of course that would help," said the alleged victim.
"They did not tell the families that their kids were being exposed - had already been exposed - to these pedophiles," said Herman. "These kids never got help for decades."
“Any instance of child victimization or abuse is intolerable and unacceptable. While we can’t comment on the lawsuit, we deeply regret that there have been times when Scouts were abused, and for that we are very sorry and extend our deepest sympathies to victims," said John Anthony, scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America, in an email statement.
