Two plaintiffs joined an existing lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America and the organization's Quapaw Area Council in Arkansas, stating that the groups knowingly allowed the scouts' leader to sexually abuse them.
Attorney Joshua D. Gillispie said he amended the lawsuit Thursday morning to reflect the additional plaintiffs.
His clients came forward because they learned that the Boy Scouts knew about Samuel Otts' history of sexual abuse, Gillispie said.
“They just were shocked and had no idea that was the case,” Gillispie said.
The suit states that Otts previously abused boys as a scout leader in Georgia, and the organization allowed him to become a scout leader in Arkansas, where he allegedly abused the three plaintiffs, who were part of a troop located in Hot Springs. At the time of the abuse, the plaintiffs were between 10 and 13 years old, according to the suit.
“They had been harmed by the organization as opposed to this lone wolf pedophile,” Gillispie said.
Gillispie said he hopes to get a jury trial, where jurors will decide on the counts of negligence; negligent hiring, supervision and retention; fraud and fraudulent concealment.
As this is a civil suit, if members of the jury decide in favor of the plaintiffs, the Boy Scouts of America and the Quapaw Area Council would pay the plaintiffs to help alleviate their emotional and physical distress.
Qupaw Area Council Scout Executive Marcal Young said he had no response on the lawsuit until he heard from the lawyers "about all the factors associated with it."
According to the suit, the abuse occurred between 1978 and 1980. Otts abused the boys at scouting-related meetings, events, overnight trips and outings, the suit states. Much of the abuse took place in and around Hot Springs, according to the suit.