Chillicothe natives advocate to get rid of limitations in Boy Scout child sex abuse cases
CHILLICOTHE ― Two Chillicothe men recently met with the Ohio House Civil Justice Committee to tell their individual stories of sexual assault by Boy Scout leaders in hopes of changing the rules for victim compensation.
On Feb. 28, Chillicothe natives Seth Porter and Eric Palmer urged lawmakers to remove Ohio's civil statute of limitations in these cases.
"My story, unfortunately, is not unique at all. In fact, it's far too common," Porter said. "Several Ohio men with similar stories have banded together to support each other and help drive meaningful changes to the restrictive laws that serve to protect the pedophiles and perpetrators of child sex crimes."
Last year marked the ending of the largest sexual abuse case against a single organization in American history, with the Boy Scouts of America granting $2.46 billion to survivors, nearly 2,000 of which are from Ohio.
However, the amount of money victims are eligible for depends on multiple factors, including where they live. Survivors in Ohio can only recover a percentage of what's owed to them. Per the settlement rules, Ohio's current law would limit survivors to 30% to 45% of what they're eligible for.
House Bill 35, also known as the Scout's Honor Law, would scrap Ohio's civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse in bankruptcy cases, allowing survivors to recoup the total amount owed to them.
"For many of us, we feel like we're being abused again," Porter said. "You have the ability to change the law and put Ohio's victims on the same level as other states. That window to change the law is closing. I urge you to support House Bill 35."
The settlement gave Ohio lawmakers until September to enact changes.
Victims in Chillicothe
In 2017, former Westerville teacher Dan Burris was sentenced to 14 years in prison for raping and molesting boys he met at Boy Scout camp. Porter said he was one of Burris' victims and the assault happened while under the supervision of Bill McKell.
In 2020, the Chillicothe Police Department was released a 13-page report concerning McKell, a former Ohio Boy Scout leader and pastor, who was facing allegations of sexual abuse from multiple minor victims in the 1980s and '90s. The report came about after Palmer came forward.
"My experience was in line with what a majority of studies of child sexual abuse show," said Palmer to the Gazette in 2020. "For a lot of reasons - fear, self-blame, doubt, all of those are reasons I didn't come forward as a kid."
McKell admitted to being a child molester in a since-deleted Facebook post. However, he was never charged.
Megan Becker is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. Call her at 740-349-1106, email her at mbecker@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @BeckerReporting
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Former Chillicothe Boy Scouts advocate for Scout's Honor Law
