Ohio victims of child sexual abuse while in the Boy Scouts of America could see more compensation for the crimes committed against them under legislation passed by the state Senate yesterday in a unanimous vote, and expected to be approved in the House, the Associated Press reported. The bill’s passage comes amid the organization’s bankruptcy settlement, first filed in 2020 after tens of thousands of men nationwide brought forth claims they had been sexually abused by their Scout leaders. The organization filed bankruptcy in an attempt to continue operating while still partially compensating victims after an onslaught of lawsuits against them. Nearly 2,000 abuse claims have been filed in Ohio. Currently, the amount victims receive from the organization’s settlement depends on the length of the statute of limitations for civil claims in the state that they live in, as well as the length and severity of their abuse. The legislation voids the state’s current civil statute of limitations in bankruptcy cases, in an effort to ensure Ohio victims of Boy Scouts abuse get more compensation. By voiding Ohio’s existing cutoff of 12 years, the bill would ensure that any victim filing a claim receives all of the money they’re owed through the settlement, rather than a fraction of it.
