Former Pa. scoutmaster, citizen of the year focus of inquiry into decades of sex abuse

YORK, Pa. - John Piper can’t stand the late fall, when the smell of a wood-burning stove takes him back to the trauma he suffered in Boy Scout Troop 127.

It was November 1977. Piper was 11, one month away from his 12th birthday.

His parents were divorced. So Piper said he looked up to his scoutmaster, Charles Quinton “C.Q.” Smith, as a male role model. He was a U.S. Army veteran, Sunday school teacher and business leader.

In this photo published in the Chambersburg Public Opinion, Charles Quinton
In this photo published in the Chambersburg Public Opinion, Charles Quinton

But instead, Piper said Smith gave him alcohol and pornographic magazines and then sexually assaulted him at a cabin in Horse Valley, which is 20 miles northwest of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. And he isn't the only one who says Smith abused them.

For years, Piper said, he struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder. He said he’s bounced from job to job and still has nightmares about what happened.

“I’ve never had nothing,” Piper said. “The way I feel, he stole my childhood.”

Piper, now 53, of Harrisonville, Fulton County, said he and his mother testified before a grand jury in Franklin County about the sexual abuse allegations.

Smith, 80, who's identified in court records only by his initials, C.S., also testified before the grand jury. His testimony is not publicly available. But in a judge's opinion in which Smith's name is redacted, it states that he himself "estimated the number of victims of his abuse to be 16 to 18."

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The statute of limitations has expired, and Smith cannot be criminally charged. But he has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to block the public release of the grand jury’s report — or, at a minimum, to shield his identity in the court documents.

Seven additional people have told the York Daily Record/Sunday News that Smith, who served as a scoutmaster of Troop 127 from 1966 to 1991 and was once named Chambersburg citizen of the year, sexually abused them or engaged in some other form of misconduct. They described behavior that ranged from providing alcohol to minors to forcibly performing oral sex on boys and young men.

Neither Smith nor his attorneys, Brian Platt and Stephanie Cesare, could be reached.

They’ve argued that the judge should have found the grand jury unconstitutional because Smith was not afforded adequate due process protections.

‘We would be undressed’

The York Daily Record investigated the allegations concerning Smith for about three months and contacted more than 150 people.

Three people shared their accounts on the record, including two who testified before the grand jury. Five more spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation or did not want to publicly state that Smith sexually abused them.

Many of their accounts shared similarities. Most knew Smith through their involvement in scouting.

Geof Lambert is seen in this group photo with members of Boy Scout Troop 127 in Chambersburg in 1974.
Geof Lambert is seen in this group photo with members of Boy Scout Troop 127 in Chambersburg in 1974.

Geof Lambert said he joined Troop 127 when he was in sixth grade in the early 1970s. Later, Smith invited him and other individuals to his cabin in Horse Valley.

Lambert said that, typically, Smith would pick them up on Friday evening in his Mercedes-Benz. They’d fire up the dry sauna, eat cheese and crackers and drink beer.

Smith, he recalled, had some kind of recreational vehicle, such as an ATV, that could hold two people. The boys — they weren’t old enough yet to legally drive — used it to explore the property and go down to the lake.

Later, Lambert said, they’d have dinner and sit around and drink more beer or vodka. Next, he said, they’d be naked in the sauna before going to the living room of the main cabin.

Then, Smith would bring out pornography that he kept in one of the bedrooms, Lambert said.

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“We would be undressed at that moment in time,” Lambert said. “From that moment on forward — and not every time was exactly the same, so to speak. But there was masturbation going on. And there was all kinds of discussion of all kinds of different topics.”

Sometimes, Lambert said, there were back rubs and massages.

He estimated the scenario that he described took place a minimum of 10 times.

Lambert, 57, an entrepreneur who now lives in northern California, said that at the time he thought that was normal. How many other boys in Chambersburg got to ride in a Mercedes and drink beer and vodka? “It was a desirable thing,” he said. “It was like, ‘Oh, all right, I’m like part of the cool thing going on here.’”

He said he didn’t really think about it much until the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse reports broke. But Lambert said he can no longer read the news without being reminded of what happened decades ago.

Lambert said he didn’t want to expose his daughters to what happened. He said his mother was best friends with Smith’s mother. And Lambert's father worked with Smith and was involved in some of the same organizations.

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Now, Lambert said, he can’t be silent.

If anything encapsulates the situation, he said, it’s the following quote from Albert Einstein: “The world is a dangerous place to live — not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don't do anything about it.”

“What happened to me was in 1973, 1972, 1974, 1975. It’s now 2019,” Lambert said. “And there are people walking around the streets of Chambersburg today who think C.Q. Smith is citizen of the year — he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

“There’s a lot of people who have the ability to have exposed the errors of his ways,” he later added. “But nobody has done it, for whatever reason, they’ve gone about their business and haven’t done anything about it.”

When he tried to raise an issue about Chambersburg honoring Smith as citizen of the year, but felt pushed away, Lambert said he went to law enforcement. He said he testified about his experience before the grand jury on June 15, 2018. He shared a copy of his subpoena with a reporter.

He said he’s not trying to seek revenge or be antagonistic.

Said Lambert: “It’s just trying to call facts what they are.”

Geof Lambert is seen in this file photo from Sept. 20, 2016. Lambert, 57, an entrepreneur who lives in northern California, said Smith would provide him and other individuals with alcohol and pornography at his cabin in Horse Valley.  “There’s a lot of people who have the ability to have exposed the errors of his ways,” Lambert said. “But nobody has done it, for whatever reason, they’ve gone about their business and haven’t done anything about it.”  Lambert said he testified before a grand jury in Franklin County on June 15, 2018.

Some see a ‘paragon of virtue.’ A former scout sees a ‘pedophile.’

Jerry Kinney, who was involved in Boy Scouts in the early 1980s, also said Smith would provide alcohol to minors and get naked with scouts in the sauna at his cabin in Horse Valley.

Kinney said he doesn’t recall the specific years that happened. But he said he was “well under 18.”

“We drank alcohol as young boys and got naked in the sauna,” said Kinney, 52, a nurse who lives in Bellefonte, Centre County, “and then went and jumped in the snow.”

Kinney described that as “the extent of anything that had occurred that was unusual” for him.

Another former scout said Smith would invite groups of young boys to his cabin in Horse Valley. He’d provide the group with beer and pornographic magazines and encourage them to masturbate.

The boys, the former scout said, would spend time naked or only wearing towels in the sauna with him.

In 1974, the former scout said, Smith rubbed the boy’s penis until he ejaculated. He was 13.

The sexual abuse started to bother and anger him later in life. That’s especially because some people still believe that Smith is “some great paragon of virtue in the community,” the former scout said.

“The truth will set you free. I would like the truth to be known about it,” the former scout said. “He’s greatly flawed, and he’s a pedophile.”

Yet another former scout recalled the first time that he went on an overnight backpacking trip. He was 12. It was 1978 or 1979.

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Smith asked him to come into his tent. At first, he told stories. Then, he said, “We’re going to give back rubs to each other.”

Eventually, Smith started to invite him and a small group of people to his cabin in Horse Valley. They’d fish and swim in the lake during the day. But at night, the former scout said, “it got a little weird.”

Smith, he said, repeatedly masturbated in front of them.

They’d get naked and go in the sauna. Sometimes, if it was snowing, they’d dive and roll around in it. Smith, he said, provided them with alcohol and pornographic magazines.

The former scout said his parents trusted Smith.

“It’s a small town. It’s Mayberry,” the former scout said, adding that Smith was a local business leader who was involved in organizations that included the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce. “He was very well connected there.”

One weekend, Smith invited him to his cabin — alone.

That, he said, is when Smith took the former scout’s hand and placed it on his penis. He framed it as a teaching moment about how to masturbate. “Let me demonstrate,” Smith told him, he recalled. “This is how you do it.”

Later, the former scout said, he started to withdraw from the troop, often using high school sports and other activities as an excuse not to go. He said very few people — not even his parents — know about what happened.

He said he eventually disclosed the abuse to his wife. Then, about three years later, he decided to go to counseling. The former scout said his Christian values have allowed him to forgive Smith.

“I don’t have a vendetta against him. But I am glad that this is coming out,” the former scout said. “This story needs to be told.”

‘Back in those days you just didn’t blow the whistle on these things’

One man who was not in scouts — but who had close friends who were in the troop — said he went to a party at Smith’s cabin in Horse Valley in 1985 or 1986. He was 18 or 19.

They were up drinking and partying, he said, until the early morning. He then passed out.

When he woke up, Smith was performing oral sex on him, he said. The man said he rolled over on his stomach and played possum.

He said he shrugged it off and pretended like nothing happened. The man said he didn’t talk about what happened until 2007 or 2008.

“Back in those days, you just didn’t blow the whistle on these things,” he said. “I was just like, ‘Wow.’”

While on a trip at Haliburton Scout Reserve in Ontario, Canada, another former scout said Smith sexually abused him when he was 14 in 1990.

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The former scout said he and another boy were sitting around a fire and picnic tables. That’s when someone told them that Smith wanted to see the two in his tent.

Smith, he said, told them that he knew hypnosis and wanted to see if they’d be willing to try it.

The former scout said he woke up to a scream from the other boy. They were both naked, he said, lying side by side, and Smith was touching and performing oral sex on them.

They grabbed their belongings and ran out of the tent.

When he got home from the trip, the former scout said, his involvement with the troop fizzled out. He said he went to one or two more meetings.

“It was a great time. I had some really great memories with the scouts,” he said. “And it all just burned down right there.”

The former scout said he didn’t initially speak up because he didn’t want to be ostracized or “branded as a freak” as someone growing up in southcentral Pennsylvania. The abuse, he said, continues to affect his life. He said he had trust issues for a long time, which inhibited him from developing healthy friendships.

Today, the former scout said, he’s forgiven Smith. But he said he can’t forget what happened.

‘Investigation #18’

The existence of a grand jury became public in June. That’s when certain court documents were unsealed with redactions.

The Franklin County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to convene an investigative grand jury, which was later selected and empaneled in 2017, according to court documents.

Prosecutors submitted 19 cases for consideration, including the inquiry into Smith. It’s referred to in court documents as “Investigation #18.”

The purpose of the investigation, court documents state, was about allegations of prior sexual abuse “upon numerous children over the past 40 years, and potential attempts to influence victims from disclosing the crimes over that time frame.”

Victims, court documents state, testified between May 18 and Dec. 14, 2018.

Franklin County President Judge Carol L. Van Horn is seen in this file photo from March 23, 2016. She was the supervising judge for the investigative grand jury. Van Horn ordered that the full grand jury report be released. “Here we have an admission from the unindicted person who is protected by the statute of limitations from criminal prosecution after he was afforded all the protections of due process,” Van Horn wrote in a 19-page opinion.

Smith also testified before the grand jury. He was advised of his right to counsel and stated that he wished to proceed without an attorney’s advice before questioning, according to court documents.

A detective, court documents state, interviewed him two weeks prior to his testimony.

The grand jury determined that no criminal charges could be filed because the statute of limitations had expired. But grand jurors felt compelled to issue a report and provide counseling resources for other potential survivors “given the reference to the number of victims by all who testified,” the court documents read.

For years, efforts to change the statute of limitations for lawsuits have stalled in the Legislature.

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President Judge Carol L. Van Horn, who supervised the grand jury, ordered that the report be publicly released.

“Here we have an admission from the unindicted person who is protected by the statute of limitations from criminal prosecution after he was afforded all the protections of due process,” Van Horn wrote in a 19-page opinion.

But Smith filed a petition for review asking that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court permanently seal the grand jury report, or, alternatively, redact any information that would identify him. He's proceeding anonymously in the petition.

Smith’s attorneys are arguing that the judge should have found that the Grand Jury Act was unconstitutional overall and specifically in their client’s case.

Oral arguments about Smith’s bid to remain anonymous are scheduled for September, according to court records.

Franklin County District Attorney Matt Fogal declined to comment.

C.Q. Smith's connection to Chambersburg, Boy Scout Troop 127

Troop 127 was originally founded as Troop 7 in 1919. It has since dissolved. Falling Spring Presbyterian Church served as the sponsoring organization.

Smith was born in Reading in 1939 and moved to Chambersburg when he was 7.

He had been active in scouting starting when he was 9 and a member of Troop 127 since the 1950s. Smith graduated from Lafayette College in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and then earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Chicago Graduate School of Business. Later, he served in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1966, reaching the rank of captain.

While serving in Europe, Smith organized a Boy Scout troop in Frankfurt, Germany.

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He served as scoutmaster of Troop 127 from 1966 to 1991. But it’s unclear how long he was involved with the organization after that time.

In 2009, U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Everett, recognized the troop in Congress. He described Smith as one the current leaders.

“Troop 127's contribution to the community and to Pennsylvania as a whole is without question,” Shuster said. “Troop 127's proud tradition of 90 years of scouting service to the Greater Chambersburg and Franklin County communities embodies the spirit of scouting and serves to encourage Pennsylvania's boys to work hard and give back to their community.”

Boy Scout Troop 127 was founded as Troop 7 in 1919. It's since dissolved. Falling Spring Presbyterian Church was the sponsoring organization.
Boy Scout Troop 127 was founded as Troop 7 in 1919. It's since dissolved. Falling Spring Presbyterian Church was the sponsoring organization.

In a statement, Ron Gardner, scout executive and CEO of the New Birth of Freedom Council, said the safety and protection of children is the most important priority for the Boy Scouts.

“The behavior described in these allegations is reprehensible and runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands,” Gardner said in June. “While this individual was not currently registered in our programs, he is now prohibited from any future participation in Scouting.”

Gardner declined to answer follow-up questions.

Smith, who worked in insurance and owned an employment agency, has held numerous positions in the community, including serving as president of the Rotary Club of Chambersburg; chairman of the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; and trustee at Wilson College.

"The Chambersburg area is fortunate to have leaders like C.Q. Smith, who understand how nurturing our educational and cultural institutions enriches the area for years to come," The Public Opinion wrote in an editorial in 2010.

Chambersburg honored him with the Mike Waters Chambersburg Citizen of the Year Award in 2011.

Yet, in some ways, it seems as though allegations of sexual abuse against Smith have been an open secret. A Facebook page called, “Is CQ Smith the ‘Jerry Sandusky’ of Chambersburg PA?” has been up since 2012.

In past interviews, Smith has described church and the Boy Scouts as major parts of his life.

“I wish every boy had the opportunity to be a scout,” Smith said in 1994, “and exposure to a good youth church ministry.”

Charles Quinton
Charles Quinton

Contributing: Amber South, (Chambersburg, Pa.) Public Opinion

Follow Dylan Segelbaum on Twitter: @Dylan_Segelbaum

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Boy Scouts sex abuse: C.Q. Smith focus of Pa. grand jury investigation