Amid reports of widespread sexual abuse of children in the late
1980s, several leading youth organizations began conducting
criminal background checks of volunteers and staff members. Big
Brothers Big Sisters ordered the checks for all volunteers
starting in 1986. Boys and Girls Clubs of America recommended
their use the same year. One of the nation's oldest and largest
youth groups, however, was opposed — the Boy Scouts of America.
Scouting officials argued that background checks would cost too
much, scare away volunteers and provide a false sense of
security. They successfully lobbied to kill state legislation
that would have mandated FBI fingerprint screening. While
touting their efforts to protect children, the Scouts for years
resisted one of the most basic tools for preventing abuse. The
result: The organization let in hundreds of men with criminal
histories of child molestation, many of whom went on to abuse
more children, according to a Times analysis of the Scouts'
confidential abuse files. Scouting