A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. Surely, somewhere in the Scout Law, one could find a prohibition against abuse.

The vast majority of Scoutmasters could find it.

The vast majority of Scoutmasters have guided their Scouts into honorable adulthood.

The vast majority of Scoutmasters are not the reason the Boy Scouts of America declared bankruptcy Tuesday, 10 days after celebrating the organization’s 110th birthday.

Because we’re talking about a massive national organization with a 110-year history, even a tiny percentage of the group represents a large number. 

Scouting officials told the Associated Press they expect 1,000 to 5,000 former Scouts to sue the organization with claims of sexual abuse. The large number stems from recent changes some states made that allow victims from many years ago to file suit; those victims were previously denied by the statute of limitations. Most of the new cases are about offenses that are alleged to have occurred in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

Boy Scouts of America records indicate Scouting officials knew more than 12,000 boys were molested by 7,800 abusers since the 1920s. At its peak in the 1970s, the BSA had more than 4 million members, so the known cases are a tiny fraction of the overall membership.

But the BSA’s records also show that Scoutmasters accused of abuse were allowed to return to leadership positions. When discovered, the problems weren’t dealt with.

The organization filed bankruptcy Tuesday to delay the lawsuits until a victims fund can be set up to compensate victims, the AP story said. The BSA may have to sell much of its real estate holdings to raise the money, which could top $1 billion. Details will be worked out by the bankruptcy court.

Wayne Perry, a member of the organization’s national board and past president, told the AP that Scout families won’t notice any differences as a result of the bankruptcy. He touted the protections now in place for young people, which include mandatory criminal background checks, abuse-prevention training for all staff and volunteers, and a rule that two or more adult leaders must be present during all activities. Those protections were introduced after the 1980s, AP said.

“Today, we are really, really good. Were we always good? No, nobody was good 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago,” Perry said.

We hope he’s right. The Boy Scouts have suffered a number of blows over the last couple of decades, but we greatly respect what the organization can be when it lives up to its promise. Its big focus now needs to be on making amends for the occasions when it didn’t.