KXMC CBS 13

North Dakota

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) A $25 million lawsuit against the Mormon church and the Boy Scouts alleges that child sex abuse has been widespread since the 1960s and little was done to prevent it.

Six men now in their 40s allege in their suit that the church and the Scouts "knew that assignments were being used by pedophiles to victimize children." Their attorney, Kelly Clark, calls it an "infestation of child abuse, stretching across the country, involving hundreds of predators and thousands of children." But an attorney for the Mormon church says only one individual was accused of abuse in the complaint the same man as in a previous lawsuit.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.)

KUTV Channel 2 News
Salt Lake City, Utah
Written by: Doug G. Ware

Email: dware@kutv2.com

SALT LAKE CITY -  Several men have filed a $25 million lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, claiming that they were sexually abused by a Sunday school teacher more than 20-years ago – and the church did nothing about it.

The suit is brought by six men in the Portland, Ore. Area who say the incidents of abuse happened between 1980 and 1985 – when they were adolescents.  The accused is Timur Dykes, 51, who at the time taught Sunday school at a Portland ward, was an LDS home teacher and local Boy Scout leader.

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Reuters

Wed Oct 3, 2007 8:24pm EDT

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A lawsuit filed against the Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts of America expanded on Wednesday to include four more men charging the organizations with ignoring sex abuses committed decades ago by a man who served as a church teacher and a scout leader.

The six men, who filed a new lawsuit in Oregon state Circuit Court in Multnomah County, allege that Timur Dykes, a former spiritual leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and former scout leader, repeatedly abused them when they were boys.

Dykes, a convicted sex offender, is listed on Multnomah County’s registered sex offender Web page. He is not named as a defendant in this suit.

"Both the Mormon Church and Boy Scouts were well aware by at least the 1960s that they had a serious, institution-wide infestation of child abuse, stretching across the country," said the plaintiffs’ attorney Kelly Clark. "They did not clear it up."

The original two plaintiffs, two brothers in their early 30s, dropped the original lawsuit and refiled the case to add four more plaintiffs. The men filed the lawsuit under the names "Jack Doe."

The lawsuit asks for $25 million in damages.

Dykes was allowed to continue in positions of trust and continue to abuse boys for four or five years after he was first arrested or investigated as early as 1981, said Clark.

"We work very, very hard to protect children in the Boy Scouts," said Gregg Shields, national spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, who declined to comment on the suit.

Portland attorney Stephen English, representing the Mormon Church, said the church is thoroughly investigating what happened. He also said Dykes was never a member of the Mormon clergy and has been excommunicated.

$25 million - The six allege a former troop leader and church teacher abused them

Thursday, October 04, 2007

PETER ZUCKERMAN

The Oregonian Staff

Six Portland men sued the Mormon church and the Boy Scouts of America on Wednesday, seeking more than $25 million for alleged sexual abuse by a church teacher and Scout leader more than 20 years ago.

The lawsuit contends that Timur Van Dykes, 51, molested Boy Scouts in Troop 719, which was supervised by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The lawsuit includes two brothers who dropped a previous complaint. It does not name Dykes as a defendant.

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KOIN 6 News

October 3, 2007

PORTLAND - Four more men filed suit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ("LDS" or "Mormon" Church) alleging child abuse at the hands of Timur Dykes.

Dykes was a Sunday School teacher, an elder in the Church and a Boy Scout Leader. Dykes was first convicted for childhood sexual abuse in the 1980s and has since been convicted several times for child abuse.

In February, two brothers files suit against the Mormon Church, claiming that the Church knew for several years about Dykes’ history.

The previous suit named the Boy Scouts of American and the Cascade Pacific Counsel of the Boys Scouts as well as the Mormon Church as defendants. The new suit, filed Wednesday, names both institutions as defendants.

The attorney for a Portland man who alleges he was molested by a Boy Scout leader nearly 50 years ago filed a $3.1 million lawsuit Wednesday against the Boy Scouts of America and one of the organization’s state affiliates, Cascade Pacific Council.

The Multnomah County case alleges that Donald L. Santy, 85, used his position as a Scout leader in Portland to molest a Boy Scout over about two years. The lawsuit does not identify the Boy Scout, who at the time was about 10 years old.

Reached at his home in Surprise, Ariz., shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Santy said he barely remembers the time more than 40 years ago when he lived in Portland. But he denied molesting the boy and said he never participated in the Boy Scouts while living in Oregon.

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Victim’s attorney wants a jury to agree that the Scouts were at fault for allowing Donald Santy to be a scout leader.

By Gina Parosa
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

An anonymous man who is 60 years old is suing the Boy Scouts, saying a leader sexually abused him in the early 1960s. Attorney Kelly Clark says the statute of limitations has not run out in this case, because the victim only recently revealed he was abused by Donald Santy. Santy did time for sex abuse in 1961, but this victim did not reveal his abuse at the time. Clark says the man has had successful careers in the military and business, but now wants money to pay for the mental stress he is suffering now. The victim has already received one cash settlement in connection with this abuse, but the Boy Scouts wouldn’t pay. He is hoping a jury will agree that the Scouts were at fault for allowing Santy to be a leader.

Sex Abuse Suit Filed Against Boy Scouts

Koin 6 News

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, kgw.com Staff

An attorney for a man who claims he was abused by a local Boy Scout leader as a child in the 1950s filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Boy Scouts of America and the Oregon chapter of the Boy Scouts.

The plaintiff was allegedly abused by Donald Santy during a two-year period.

Santy was a Scout leader and executive director of the Boys Club of Portland in the 50’s and 60’s.

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