COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -
The works of an Oregon court order that
released more than a thousand ineligible volunteer files kept at the Boy
Scouts' national headquarters does not bring concern to the Midlands' Indian
Waters Council, which says they have been screening leaders for years.
Indian Waters Council Scout Executive Doug Stone said the
organization's ineligible volunteer files have been around for years and help
in the screening process to ensure an individual with a sketchy background moving
from state to state does not become a scoutmaster.
"The ineligible files have been kept for years and is
something we keep when we deem someone ineligible for a Boy Scout leader,"
Stone said. "It is one of many tools we use to screen those interested in being
an applicant."
Of the ineligible volunteer files released, 10 names were
from South Carolina, which included five from the Midlands dating back to 1964.
Of those, two were convicted of a criminal sexual charge involving a minor.
Those include Claude Macemore, of Columbia, and Rodney Sprott, of Sumter.
Macemore was charged with three counts of committing a
lewd act on a child and three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in
1991. He was sentenced to two years in prison and five years probation. He was
convicted in 2005 for the same charges in a different case and arrested again
in 2011 while on probation.
Sprott pleaded guilty in 1985 to second-degree criminal
sexual conduct with a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and
committing a lewd act on a minor.
Majority of the ineligible files include allegations
alluding to a scout leader having some sort of sexual encounter with a minor,
making them unfit to be a scoutmaster. Now, decades since some of the leaders
were dismissed, Stone said the application process has improved.
The "multi-tier" application process includes reference
checks, a criminal background check and training before a leader is placed with
a troop. In addition, the individual has to be approved by the sponsoring
organization, such as a religious group, and the Boy Scouts have a multi-leader
policy to ensure there are two or more leaders per troop. The application is
reviewed by a group of people in each Council, and if the individual has an
arrest record, Stone said it's taken on a case-by-case basis for whether an
individual can move forward in the process or if they will then become
ineligible.
"On the application, it states policies," Stone said. "(The
adult) completes the application, is screened and approved by leadership and the
organization."
In that process, Stone said the ineligible volunteer
files could be a stopping point for an applicant who was previously deemed
ineligible in another area.
"It's very much a red flag," he said. "We don't accept an
application if someone (has an ineligible volunteer file). That's why the ineligible
files work."
Once an adult becomes a leader, there is no one-on-one
interaction between an adult leader and a scout. Leaders are trained every two
years following their acceptance.
"We teach kids to recognize, resist and report abuse in
the appropriate ways," Stone said, adding that parents are also educated on how
to stop child abuse if it's suspected within a troop.
Currently, Stone said there are 250 troops in the
Midlands, which serve about 8,000 scouts. Making sure the "Child Bill of
Rights" is maintained, Stone is confident that any policies broken or criminal
activity committed by an Indian Waters Council leader is reported immediately
to administration and police.
"We attempt to create barriers to abuse," Stone said.
Moving forward, Stone said parents can rest knowing that
the proper training and information is being passed on to their children and
leaders to prevent abuse.
"This is a sacred trust that we have," Stone said, "that
thousands of parents entrust their young people to the care and well being of
scouting. So it's crucial that our leaders understand the ways to recognize an
abusive situation and ways to make sure we are preventing those from taking
place in our program."
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