Boy Scouts face another sexual-abuse suit

A fifth man has sued the Seattle council of the Boy Scouts, claiming sexual abuse by former scoutmaster Bruce A. Phelps.

The lawsuit for unspecified damages was filed Wednesday in King County Superior Court on behalf of a man identified as G.S., 38, of Mount Vernon, who was living with his mother when he spent about two years in the West Seattle troop where Phelps, 54, a City Light warehouse worker, was a scoutmaster from 1977 to 1983.

Phelps has refused to comment on any of the lawsuits accusing him of abuse during his time as a scoutmaster, including four that were settled earlier for undisclosed terms. Alicia Lifrek, a spokeswoman for the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Greg Shields, a spokesman for Boy Scouts of America, said Thursday he could not comment because the national organization had not yet seen the lawsuit.

In the past, Scout leaders have said the organization now teaches boys, parents and volunteers to recognize and report abuse and trains boys to resist attempts at abuse.

One of the earlier cases, brought by Tom and Matt Stewart, of Enumclaw and Palm Desert, Calif., respectively, led to a state Supreme Court ruling on July 27, 2006, that the Boy Scouts must release to lawyers for the brothers the dossiers of sexual-abuse allegations the organization has received nationwide since the 1940s.

In interviews, the Stewarts said Phelps subjected them to sexual abuse from when they were Cub Scouts in grade school into their high-school years.

Boy Scout files show a pattern of cover-up and failure to report to authorities verified cases of sexual abuse by scoutmasters and a lack of warning to local troop leaders, parents and Scouts, said Timothy D. Kosnoff, a lawyer for plaintiffs in the Phelps-related cases.

Kosnoff said G.S. also gave the names of other Scouts he said had been abused by Phelps.

"We're trying to track them down and interview them," Kosnoff said.