A Delaware bankruptcy judge has granted a request by the Boy Scouts of America to halt lawsuits against local Scout councils as the BSA works on its bankruptcy plan to set up a compensation fund for thousands of men who were molested as boys by Scout leaders, the Associated Press reported. The judge yesterday approved a proposed consent order that had been agreed to by the BSA and official bankruptcy committees representing abuse survivors and other unsecured creditors. In doing so, the judge overruled a lone objection by attorneys for one abuse survivor who wanted to pursue their lawsuit against the Greater Niagara Frontier Council in New York and former scout master Douglas Nail. Nail, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography in 2004, is accused of molesting a former Boy Scout over a period of several years in the 1980s. Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein’s ruling puts the lawsuit against the Greater Niagara council on hold while allowing litigation to proceed against Nail. The Boy Scouts initially sought to halt all litigation against local councils for six months from the date of its Feb. 18 bankruptcy filing. The agreement forged with the creditors committees calls for the lawsuits to be put on hold through May 18, with the possibility of an extension.
