The Boy Scouts of America will face the last batch of thousands of sex-abuse claims Monday, the deadline for people alleging they were abused as children to come forward in what is shaping up to be the largest bankruptcy case of its kind.
More than 80,000 claims were expected to be filed by Monday in bankruptcy court, according to attorneys involved in the case. The Boy Scouts filed for chapter 11 protection from lawsuits accusing the organization of not taking the necessary precautions to protect the children who joined the group.
The number of claims in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy case is many times the magnitude of the claims in more than 20 Catholic Church diocesan and religious-order bankruptcies that were similarly rooted in widespread child abuse, said James Stang, the lead lawyer for a committee representing people who said they were sexually abused in the Boy Scouts.