Local reaction to Boy Scout sex abuse cover-up - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

A revelation is shaking up a trusted youth organization with deep ties to central Indiana.

According to internal memos obtained by the Los Angeles Times, the Boy Scouts of America spent decades covering for child molesters by allowing them to quietly resign rather than face police. The internal memos are from 1970-1991.

There are more than 30,000 Boy Scouts in central Indiana.

Eric Phillippe has thought back on his time as a Boy Scout. He says most of his memories are good ones, expect for an incident when he was the 15-year-old den chief.
 
Phillippe told Eyewitness News, "I was seduced by the den mother. It happened one time and then shortly after, I was no longer the den chief."

The Youth Pastor says he never told anyone about the abuse when it happened. Years later, he told his parents.
 
When he completed online training to become a Boy Scout leader for his sons' scout troop, Phillippe started talking openly about the sexual abuse: "It affected me. The first time I went through the online training, it stirred up some stuff that I had buried for a while, to be honest."

Eyewitness News looked at the video Phillippe likely watched during his scout leadership training. Since 1989, every scout, parent and leader must watch the frank film to educate young boys about sexual abuse.

The organization says it's gone even further to prevent abuse.  In 2010, the organization began requiring members to report even the suspicion of abuse directly to police.

Phillippe said these are changes from when he was a Boy Scout. Phillippe said that's one of the reasons he's still proud to be involved with a youth organization:
 
"I don't know then, because I wasn't a leader then. But, what I know now, as a leader, I know that they do everything they can do to make sure that kind of stuff doesn't happen again," he said.

The Boy Scouts of America organization has made other policy changes in the last 20 years. 

For example, scout leaders must take Youth Protection Training every two years.  Also, the 500-page Boy Scout Handbook includes a introduction pamphlet that outlines the signs of sexual abuse in the first 15 pages of the handbook.