Media

            We recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of an Oregon man for the sexual abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of a Boy Scout leader in the 1960's, one of Oregon’s most notorious pedophiles.  The abuser – then-Scoutmaster Ed Dyer – would eventually admit to abusing at least 15 boys over 28 years, including while serving as a Scoutmaster in Eugene and Central Oregon between the mid-1960's and the mid-1980's.  Although the Boy Scouts of America and local and federal government agencies received notice regarding Dyer’s abuse of boys, it was ultimately one of Dyer’s victims (not the victim of the aforementioned lawsuit) who years later took the law into his own hands and stopped Dyer from abusing more boys.  That victim, a then-17- year-old boy named Louis Connor, shot and killed Dyer on January 22, 1986.  Connor later reportedly stated that he “felt like shooting was the only way to make sure it didn’t happen again.”  

            This most recent lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, contends that Ed Dyer – a longtime Scoutmaster– used his leadership position in a Boy Scout troop sponsored by the Adams School PTA in Eugene to win the trust of Plaintiff (then a teenage boy) and his mother.  After conditioning Plaintiff to trust him, Dyer used his position as a Scoutmaster and the Scouting program (including camping trips) to isolate and exploit the victim, sexually abusing the boy for several years between approximately 1964 and 1968.

            Prior to his death, Ed Dyer admitted to abusing more than 15 boys over the course of 28 years.  Most of Dyer’s victims were apparently involved in Dyer’s Scout Troops or other formal youth outreach program. You can read more about these issues by following the links below:

• "$5 Million Suit Claims Scouts Responsible For Dyer's Crimes" by David Nogueras, OPB (7.28.2011)
• "Abuse Suit Against Boy Scouts Tied To C.O Killing" by Mackenzie Wilson and Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM (7.27.2011)
• "Boy Scouts Suits in the News Again", KBDN.com (7.28.2011)