The Boy Scouts of America won pivotal support from a committee representing sexual abuse victims for a $2.7 billion settlement of their claims against the youth organization as it seeks to emerge from bankruptcy, according to a court filing, Reuters reported. Ahead of a Feb. 22 hearing before a U.S. bankruptcy judge, the official committee representing victims in Boy Scouts' chapter 11 case has agreed to drop its long-standing objections to the settlement, the filing showed. The Boy Scouts, founded in 1910, previously has apologized for the abuse and committed itself to equitably compensate people who were abused as children. More than 82,000 abuse claims have been filed against the Boy Scouts, which has called the deal the largest sexual abuse settlement in history. The Irving, Texas-headquartered nonprofit organization, which had earlier secured separate backing from tens of thousands of abuse victims, will still need to get the approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein to sign off on the settlement. In a vote tally announced in January, 73.57% of claimants supported the settlement plan, short of the 75% threshold the organization had been seeking. BSA has been in mediation with holdouts in recent weeks, working to bring in more support. Under the deal, the Boy Scouts would establish a $2.7 billion trust to compensate men who have said they were sexually abused as children by troop leaders. In 2020, the Boy Scouts filed for chapter 11 protection — allowing for reorganization under U.S. bankruptcy laws — in Delaware to resolve decades of abuse allegations.
