DOVER, Del. (AP) – The former youth protection director for the Irving-based Boy Scouts of America says the organization isn’t doing enough to protect children from sexual abuse and is still trying to maintain a veil of secrecy over decades of past abuse.
Michael Johnson said Tuesday that Congress needs to investigate both the BSA’s efforts to cover-up past abuse and the dangers he says the organization still poses to children.
Johnson was hired in 2010 as the Boy Scouts first youth protection director but lost his position in December as part of a financial restructuring.
He said he began to sense in recent years that the Boy Scouts were becoming less receptive to needed reforms.
In reaction, a spokesperson for the Boy Scouts said there was no attempt to buy Johnson’s silence, saying the organization is disappointed with his characterization of the organization.
Asked why he decided to step forward now, Johnson said he began to sense in recent years that the Boy Scouts were becoming less receptive to needed reforms.
“All of the sudden, I wasn’t able to make the changes that were needed, and there were excuses and omissions….I felt, naively, that I could make change within the organization, and there were some successes, but it wasn’t nearly enough,” he said.
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