Ouachita Parish one of early ‘cover-ups’ by Boy Scouts

One of the most startling revelations to come from the files is the frequency with which attempts to protect Scouts from alleged molesters collapsed at the local level, at times in collusion with community leaders.

On the afternoon of Aug. 10, 1965, a distraught Louisiana mother walked into the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office. A 31-year-old scoutmaster, she told the chief criminal deputy, had raped one of her sons and molested two others.

Six days later, the scoutmaster sat down in the same station and confessed.

“I don’t know an explanation, why we done it or I done it or wanted to do it or anything else it just — an impulse I guess or something,” the man told a sheriff’s deputy.

The decision was made not to pursue charges.

Cover-ups-by-Boy-Scouts