HARTFORD – The Boy Scouts of America said it’s pleased a Connecticut court has overturned a $12 million ruling against it in the case of a boy who alleged he was sexually assaulted by an older boy in his troop in the mid-1970s.
It says youth protection is of paramount importance to it and it has always focused on the best interests of its young people.
The boy said he was sexually abused three times beginning when he was 11 by an older Scout in Troop 137 in New Fairfield. A jury agreed the Boy Scouts of America failed to protect him from the abuse.
State Supreme Court justices ordered a new trial in a split decision Monday, saying the trial judge improperly denied a defense request to instruct jurors on negligence liability.
The $12 million verdict was the largest against the Irving, Texas-based Boy Scouts.
The plaintiff is known only as John Doe in court documents.
