was an LDS church member and scoutmaster in West Bradford, Pennsylvania; was convicted in 1999 of a misdemeanor for sexually abusing one of his boy scouts; sentenced in 2000 to 15 years of probation; arrested in 2011 for possessing child pornography; sentenced in 2012 to 15 to 30 years in prison

About Vance Hein

Vance Hein Mormon Sex Crime Case Summary

This case arose in 1999 in Pennsylvania.

Vance Hein was a member of the Marshallton 2nd Ward of the LDS church in or near West Bradford, Pennsylvania. He was also a scoutmaster of Boy Scout troop 84 in Chester, Pennsylvania, which was operated in connection with that Mormon ward.

Hein had multiple victims in his scout troop, according to a civil complaint filed by one victim in 2012. The complaint was part of a lawsuit against the BSA, the local BSA council, the LDS church, the local LDS stake (Valley Forge Stake), and Vance Hein.

According to the complaint, Hein groomed and then sexually abused his victim in various ways.

Hein manipulated the victim into believing that engaging in such acts would enable the victim the privilege of joining a “brotherhood.”

The abuse began when the victim was 14 and lasted for approximately 15 months, according to the complaint. It allegedly took place at Hein’s home, parks and fields, Scout meetings, Scout camps, and during a “special” trip to Canada.

Source: Molestation victim files suit against Chesco Boy Scouts council – Pottstown Mercury – 2012-12-12

“A former Avon Grove Boy Scout who was molested as a teenager by a scoutmaster with a West Bradford Mormon church filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the scouts, the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and the man who molested him.

He is seeking damages for a life he said was derailed by the abuse.

‘I never finished anything I started,’ Melvin Novak of Wilmington, Del., said during a press conference at his attorneys’ office in Philadelphia. ‘I became a substance abuser. I moved around the East Coast a lot. I guess I can say that it took away a lot of my accomplishments and experiences that I can’t get back.’

Novak, who agreed to be publicly identified as part of his lawsuit, said scoutmaster Vance Hein sexually abused him at Hein’s home, in scout camps, at various outdoor locations around Chester County, and on a trip to Canada, when he was between 14 and 15 years old.

Hein, now 61, was prosecuted for the abuse in 1999 after Novak came forward and told his parents and authorities about the abuse. In a twist of events, Hein was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in state prison in August for possession of child pornography and is now housed at Graterford Prison, Montgomery County. He was on probation for his abuse of Novak at the time of his arrest in 2011.

Attorney Stewart Eisnenberg of the law firm of Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg, & Jeck, said his client had come forward after the publication in October of the Boy Scouts of America’s ‘perversion files’ that detailed how the organization kept secret information about the background of scoutmasters and troop leaders who had sexually abused children.

‘They covered it up in the most despicable way,’ Eisenberg told reporters at the press conference of the files. ‘We want to make people aware of what’s going on. (Novak) wants to make a statement on the record and tell the public the fact that this happened to him.’

The lawsuit names as defendants the Boy Scouts of America, the Chester County Council of Boy Scouts, and the Church of the Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City.

It contends that Hein had come to the Church of the Latter Day Saints Ward No. 2 in Marshallton after leaving California, where he had been a Boy Scout leader, and became involved in the scouting program there.

Novak and Eisenberg said that scouting is a central part of life in the Mormon Church, an activity young boys are encouraged to become involved with at an early age. ‘It is part of church life,’ said Eisenberg. ‘It is part of growing up in the Mormon Church.’

But the lawsuit contends officials in the church and the Boy Scouts’ Chester County Council did not take steps to check Hein’s background or oversee the involvement he had with youths under his supervision, allowing him to begin abusing Novak. ‘They had no background check, and they sponsored this scout troop,’ he said of the church.

A call to the church went unreturned. Calls seeking comment from the Chester County scouts were also not returned.

Novak, 28, who now works as a video store manager, grew up in the Marshallton church, where his family were members. He knew Hein from and early age, and looked at him as a close family friend and mentor, who would help him with scouting work and reward him for his accomplishments.

‘From the time I was 8 years old, this guy was Santa Claus,’ he said,

‘He was involved in every aspect of the church when I was growing up,’ Novak said of Hein. ‘This was a guy I trusted all my life.’

He said that when he turned 14 and was a student at Fred S. Engle Middle School in the Avon Grove School District, Hein started molesting him, telling the youth that it as part of an initiation into something he called ‘the Brotherhood,’ a secret society within scouting.

‘Mel was joining the Brotherhood that young boys aspired to,’ Eisenberg said of Hein’s grooming of the youth. ‘It was a complete hoax.’ Some of the abuse incidents took place at Camp Horseshoe outside Rising Sun, Md., Novak said. Others were at Hein’s Hilltop Road home in West Bradford, where he lived with his wife and children. He said that Hein would give him gifts in exchange for the abuse and tell him about being included in the Brotherhood.

‘Everything had a reward at the end,’ he said.

Hein worked as an information technology expert for entertainment companies, and at some point in 1999 he took Novak on a business trip to Canada. He molested him at a hotel there, court records said.

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Online sources
  1. Molestation victim files suit against Chesco Boy Scouts council
    view source details | 12 Dec 2012 | Pottstown Mercury
  2. Boy Scouts, LDS Church sued by former scout over sex abuse
    view source details | 13 Dec 2012 | KSL
  3. Full text of "Novak Complaint"
    view source details | 18 Jan 2023 | Archive.org
  4. source 4
    view source details | |
  5. source 5
    view source details | |
Online sources excerpts
  • Molestation victim files suit against Chesco Boy Scouts council
    Source type: News article
    Publisher: Pottstown Mercury
    Date published/accessed: 12 Dec 2012
    archive 1 | archive 2
  • back to online sources list
    Boy Scouts, LDS Church sued by former scout over sex abuse
    Source type: News article
    Publisher: KSL
    Date published/accessed: 13 Dec 2012
    archive 1 | archive 2
  • back to online sources list
    Full text of "Novak Complaint"
    Source type: News article
    Publisher: Archive.org
    Date published/accessed: 18 Jan 2023
    archive 1 | archive 2
  • back to online sources list
    source 4
    Source type: News article
    Publisher:
    Date published/accessed:
    archive 1 | archive 2
    • Groping and fondling of the victim's genitals.
    • Hein made the victim strip naked with his hands fixed behind his back while Hein hit him with a stick.
    • Hein dripped hot wax on the victim's penis and made the victim masturbate in front of Hein.
    • Hein tied the victim's arms and ankles to a bed while naked and made the victim watch pornographic movies.
    • Hein squeezed the victim's testicles to inflict pain on the victim.
  • back to online sources list
    source 5
    Source type: News article
    Publisher:
    Date published/accessed:
    archive 1 | archive 2

    Novak said on Wednesday that the incident in Canada made him determined to come forward and tell his parents about what had been going on between him and Hein, after going through quite a bit of rebelliousness at home. He said that when he began telling his mother, she guessed almost immediately what Hein had done.

    ‘She already knew what I was going to tell her,’ he said.

    Hein was arrested by Chester County Detectives in September 1999, and was sentenced to 15 years of probation on a single charge of endangering the welfare of children by then-Common Pleas Court Judge Juan R. Sanchez.

    Eisenberg said that Novak was ‘disappointed’ that Hein’s punishment was not harsher, but noted that there were many pressures on Novak and his family at the time that may have kept him from pressing the case.

    In 2011, Hein confessed to the probation officer handling his case that he had been regularly corresponding with young boys over the Internet, even though he was prohibited from doing so. He told the officer he had sent pornographic stories to boys from ages 10 to 18, and that some of the stories dealt with torture.

    When the probation officer, Tina Marinari of the Chester County Adult Probation Office sex crimes unit, searched his house, she found a large cache of 84 photos and eight videos involving child pornography. Hein admitted to having received photos from young boys, some of which depicted them having sex with other boys. They appeared to be under the age of 18.

    Hein was arrested in September, two months after confessing his activities to Marinari. He entered a guilty plea to five counts of possession of child pornography in May, and was formally sentenced by Common Pleas Court Judge Howard F. Riley Jr.

    At the time, two longtime members of the Marshallton church came forward to speak on Hein’s behalf.

    In one letter, former Octorara Area School Board president and one-time Parkesburg Borough Council member Ken Knickerbocker, who said he had known Hein for 15 years, asked the head of their mutual church to appoint him as a youth counselor and scoutmaster in 1992.

    ‘As scout master, Vance was a natural at mixing the appropriate level of fun with responsibilities and activities,’ Knickerbocker wrote. His scouts have gone on to graduate from college and start careers and families, he said.

    ‘If it were possible for them to be here today I am confident each would speak in glowing, positive terms of their scouting memories and the impact Mr. Hein had on their lives.’

    Another member of the Mormon church in West Bradford, a retired GlaxoSmithKline executive, said his oldest son had been part of the youth group there and had enjoyed his association with Hein.

    ‘Vance’s impact on him was significant and I am very grateful to Vance for his constant encouragement and support’ for his son, the man said in a letter.

    Novak said that when he read an account of Hein’s sentencing in the Daily Local News, he saw those comments and was astonished.

    ‘They were standing up for him, 15 years after the fact,’ he said. ‘I thought to myself, ‘You have no idea how close to home this was.’ They had no idea what a hoax he had to use me.’

    Asked by reporters at the press conference whether others in his Boy Scout Troop 84 had similar involvement with Hein, Novak said he was uncertain.

    ‘I don’t know if there were other kids involved, but suspect that there were,’ he said. ‘The big thing is that I wish I had said something sooner. I wasn’t strong enough to say anything.’"

    --

    from KSL:

    "PHILADELPHIA — A Delaware man has sued the Boy Scouts of America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday over childhood sexual abuse committed by the scoutmaster at his church-sponsored troop.

    Melvin Novak filed the lawsuit in state court in Philadelphia, charging that newly released Boy Scout files support his claim that the organization hid abuse complaints for years.

    "They knew about this conduct, they knew what was going on, and they covered it up in the most despicable way," lawyer Stewart J. Eisenberg said at a news conference attended by Novak and his father.

    The lawsuit names the larger LDS church and the Downingtown-area chapel that Novak attended when the abuse took place.

    "This morning's filing of the complaint was the first notice the Church has had related to this litigation, so I can't offer any information on specifics," said Scott Trotter, spokesperson for the LDS Church. "What I can say is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. Those found guilty of abuse are deserving of both legal prosecution and Church discipline."

    The Boy Scouts said it regrets the past abuse of scouts.
    "What I can say is that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. Those found guilty of abuse are deserving of both legal prosecution and Church discipline."
    –Scott Trotter

    Novak's abuser, Vance Hein, 61, is in prison for a parole violation related to his 1999 misdemeanor conviction in Novak's case. He originally got probation but is now serving 15 to 30 years for possessing child pornography, Eisenberg said.

    Novak, 28, of Newark, Del. said the abuse affected several aspects of his life, including school and his professional endeavors. He said the abuse was also a contributing factor to years of substance abuse.

    "After all that, my childhood just fell apart," Novak said.

    The LDS Church works in conjunction with BSA officials to perform background screenings for all adult leaders called to a position in scouting.

    The June 2012 Scouting Handbook, which is given to all scout leaders in the LDS church, says, "The Boy Scouts of America will complete a criminal background check on all new adult leaders as part of the registration approval process." The background screening is performed before an adult leader is called to be a scout leader and serves to protect all parties involved.

    In years past, the Church has also established a policy to ensure that at least two registered adult leaders are always present on all Scouting trips, outings, classes and meetings. "In situations that require personal conferences, such as a Scoutmaster's conference or merit badge counseling, the meeting should be conducted in view of other adults or youth," the handbook states.

    The Boy Scout files — more than 14,000 pages of secret documents compiled from 1959 to 1985 — show that police, prosecutors, pastors and scout leaders quietly shielded scoutmasters and others who allegedly molested children. In response, the Scouts have apologized and said their response to the allegations were "plainly insufficient, inappropriate, or wrong."

    "We deeply regret that there have been times when Scouts were abused, and for that we are very sorry and extend our deepest sympathies to victims," the organization said in a statement Wednesday.

    Novak said the alleged sexual abuse took place at Hein's home, on camping trips and on a trip to Canada, a trip that motivated him to go to authorities. Novak said he was 15 at the time and was abused for more than a year.

    Associated Press writer Maryclaire Dale contributted to this report."

    --

    Source: Novak Complaint - Archive.org - 2023-09-06

    "EISENBERG, ROTHWEILER,
    WINKLER, EISENBERG & JECK, P.C.
    By: Stewart J. Eisenberg, Esquire

    Dmo Privitera, Esquire
    Attorney Identification Nos. 32151/69814
    1634 Spruce Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19103
    (215) 546-6636

    Attorneys for Plaintiff

    Melvin J. Novak

    Plaintiff

    v.

    COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

    PRTT A OFT PITTA POTrMTV

    Boy Scouts of America

    and

    Chester County Council, Boy Scouts of America

    Civil Action - Law

    and

    Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

    December Term, 2012

    and

    No.:

    Valley Forge Stake, Marshallton 2nd Ward, of
    the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

    and

    Vance P. Hein

    JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

    Defendants

    CIVIL ACTION COMPLAINT

    AND NOW COMES the Plaintiff, Melvin J. Novak, by and through his legal counsel,
    Stewart J. Eisenberg, Esquire and Dino Privitera, Esquire of the law firm of EISENBERG,
    ROTHWEILER, WINKLER, EISENBERG & JECK, P.C, and avers the following:

    1

    I. INTRODUCTION

    1. This Complaint is based on the childhood sexual abuse of Plaintiff Mel vin J.
    Novak caused by the negligent, willful, wanton, reckless, and tortious acts and omissions of the
    Boy Scouts of America, the Chester County Council, Boy Scouts of America, the Church of Jesus
    Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Valley Forge Stake, Marshallton 2nd Ward of the Church of Jesus
    Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Vance P. Hem, formerly a BSA Scoutmaster and Youth Leader of
    the LDS Church.

    2. The Boy Scouts of America (hereinafter sometimes referred to "BSA") is the
    largest youth organization in the United States with approximately 5,000,000 members. BSA was
    chartered in 1910 by an act of Congress. An estimated 20% of American boys have had contact
    with scouting, either as members or by attending Scout functions.

    3. Throughout its history, the BSA has consistently held itself out to the public as a
    "moral and safe" environment for boys to participate in healthy outdoor activities and to be given
    proper guidance and instruction. Millions of parents and scouts have placed their trust in the BSA.

    4. Paradoxically, the BSA promotes the wholesomeness of its programs while
    knowing that since the 1940s, it has been secretly removing Scoutmasters for child sexual abuse at
    an alarming rate, which in the 1970s reached an average of one every three days. Its own records
    demonstrate that it has long known that Scouting attracts pedophiles in large numbers and that
    Scouts, far from being safe, are at the heightened risk of sexual abuse by child molesters.

    5. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (hereinafter sometimes referred to
    as "LDS Church") is a large religious denomination which likewise promotes the ideals of moral

    2

    purity and rectitude. The LDS Church has actively associated itself with BSA, including, as here,
    active sponsorship and control of local BSA Scout troops.

    6. The LDS Church has accepted the BSA as a key program within the Church. The
    LDS Church is one of the largest chartering organizations for scout troops in the United States
    Only the LDS Church has officially adopted Scouting as a church youth program. In 1913, the
    LDS Church became the first church partner of BSA. LDS Scout units are designated for LDS
    youth and operate differently than non-LDS Scout units.

    II. PARTIES

    7. Plaintiff Melvin J. Novak is an adult citizen who currently resides in the State of
    Delaware.

    8. Plaintiffs causes of action set forth herein are timely under 42 Pa.C.S.
    §5533(b)(2)(I), which extends the statute of limitation until thirty (30) years of age for
    commencement of civil actions arising from childhood sexual abuse where the individual was
    under eighteen (18) years of age at the time the cause of action accrued. Plaintiff Melvin Novak
    was born on December 29, 1983 and the sexual abuse underlying this Complaint occurred while
    he was in his minority. Plaintiff commenced this matter by filing this Complaint on December 12,
    2012, at which time Plaintiff Melvin Novak was twenty-eight (28) years of age.

    9. At all times relevant hereto, Plaintiff Melvin Novak was a young boy living with
    his parents in New London, Pennsylvania and was enrolled in the BSA Scouting programs and
    was also an active member in the Valley Forge Stake, Marshallton 2nd Ward of the Church of
    Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

    3

    1 0. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Boy Scouts of America was and is a
    congressionally chartered corporation with a principle place of business at 1325 West Walnut Hill
    Lane, Suite 406, Irving, Texas. BSA is authorized to do business and is doing business in the
    Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through various local and regional Boy Scout organizations and
    councils.

    11. Defendant Boy Scouts of America operates, promotes, oversees, guides, sets
    standards, and establishes policies, protocols, and procedures for youth organizations nationally
    through various local, state and regional organizations, including those of Boy Scout Troop 84 of
    the Chester County Council, Boy Scouts of America.

    12. Defendant Boy Scouts of America develops programs, sets and maintains quality
    standards in training, leadership selection, uniforms, registration records, literature development,
    and advancement requirements for youth organizations nationally through various local, state and
    regional organizations, including those of Boy Scout Troop 84 of the Chester County Council,
    Boy Scouts of America.

    13. Defendant Boy Scouts of America grants charters to local councils and local
    organizations to operate and conduct Boy Scout activities within their geographic areas, including
    Boy Scout Troop 84 of the Chester County Council, Boy Scouts of America.

    14. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Chester County Council, Boy Scouts of
    America (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "Chester County Council") was and is a
    Pennsylvania non-profit corporation with a business address of 504 South Concord Road, West
    Chester, PA 19382.

    4

    15. Upon information and belief, Defendant Chester County Council was and is a
    charter organization of the Boy Scouts of America.

    16. Defendant Chester County Council, as a charter organization of the Boy Scouts of
    America, administers the programs, guidelines, and policies of the Defendant Boy Scouts of
    America in and around the Chester County, Pennsylvania region.

    1 7. The Boy Scouts of America and the Chester County Council Defendants will be
    referred hereinafter collectively as the "Boy Scout Defendants."

    18. At all times relevant hereto, the Boy Scout Defendants acted by and through their
    duly authorized agents, representatives, volunteers, servants and/or employees.

    19. At all times relevant hereto, upon information and belief, Defendant the Church of
    Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was and is a religious organization or corporation sole
    incorporated under the laws of the State of Utah with its principle place of business or operation at
    50 East North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150. The LDS Church is authorized to do
    business and is doing business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through local and regional
    church congregations called "wards."

    20. At all times relevant hereto, upon information and belief, Defendant Valley Forge
    Stake, Marshallton 2nd Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereinafter
    sometimes referred to as the "Marshallton 2nd Ward") was and is a Pennsylvania non-profit
    religious corporation with a business address at 1443 Telegraph Road, West Chester, PA 19380.

    21 . At all times relevant hereto, Defendant the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
    Saints was responsible for, and controlled, the activities, maintenance, supervision, structure,

    5

    management, organization, and operation of the Marshallton 2nd Ward, including the conduct and
    activities of its religious leaders and members.

    22. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Marshallton 2nd Ward
    shall be referred to hereinafter collectively as the "LDS Church Defendants."

    23. At all times relevant hereto, the LDS Church Defendants acted by and through
    their duly authorized agents, representatives, volunteers, servants and/or employees.

    24. As part of the LDS Church's religious mission, the LDS Church Defendants
    authorized and selected Youth Leaders to educate and minster to LDS families and their children
    in the congregation known as Marshallton 2nd Ward.

    25. At all times relevant hereto, the Boy Scout Defendants operated various programs
    for young boys, including the then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak and authorized, approved,
    ratified and selected adults to serve as Scoutmasters.

    26. The Boy Scout and LDS Defendants, acting by and through their duly authorized
    agents, jointly operated and/or controlled a Boy Scout Troop in Chester County, Pennsylvania for
    the benefit of the Marshallton 2nd Ward, known as Troop 84.

    27. At all times relevant hereto, then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak was a member of
    Boy Scout Troop 84 of the Chester County Council.

    28. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Vance P. Hein ("Hein") was a Youth
    Leader of the Marshallton 2nd Ward and a Scoutmaster for Troop 84, and was selected, accepted,
    ratified, approved and authorized by the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants to serve in these
    capacities for the purpose of educating and ministering to LDS families and their children,
    including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak, and for the purpose of instructing and training

    6

    young boys, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak, in morality, patriotism and various life
    skills.

    29. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Hein served and acted as a duly authorized
    and ratified agent, employee, servant, representative, and/or volunteer of the Boy Scout and LDS
    Church Defendants, and was subject to the authority, dominion and control of the Boy Scout and
    LDS Church Defendants.

    30. At all times relevant hereto, for the purpose of furthering his duties as a Youth
    Leader and Scoutmaster, Defendant Hein sought and gained the then minor-Plaintiff Melvin
    Novak's trust, friendship, admiration and obedience. As a result, then minor-Plaintiff Melvin
    Novak was conditioned to comply with Defendant Hein's direction and to look to him as an
    authority figure.

    31. At all times relevant hereto, using the power, authority and trust of his positions as
    a Youth Leader and Scoutmaster, and availing himself of the Boy Scout and LDS Church
    Defendants' representations to parents and scouts that the BSA was a moral and safe place for
    young boys, Defendant Hein enticed, induced, directed, coerced, and forced then minor-Plaintiff
    Melvin Novak to engage in deviant sexual acts with him.

    32. At the time of his molestation and sexual assault of then minor-Plaintiff Melvin
    Novak, Defendant Hein was an adult residing in Downington, Pennsylvania.

    33. Defendant Hein, Inmate No.: KT7529, is currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania at
    SCI-Graterford.

    7

    III. FACTS

    34. BSA knew for decades that sexual predators of boys had infiltrated scouting. BSA
    knew or should have known the danger that pedophiles presented to Boy Scouts and either knew
    or should have known the danger that Defendant Hein presented to children, including Plaintiff
    Novak, but instead ignored that danger and permitted him and other pedophiles in Scouting to
    prey upon young boys, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    35. Since approximately 1919, the BSA has maintained a group of files known as red
    files, perversion files or ineligible volunteer files.

    36. BSA's own internal "ineligible volunteer files" collected and maintained in secrecy
    for 70 years, revealed that Scouting is a "pedophile magnet," and that removed pedophiles were
    often able to reenter Scouting in other locations.

    37. BSA's confidential records demonstrate both its awareness of Scouting' s
    attraction to pedophiles, but also the distinctive characteristics of Scouting that rendered Scouts
    particularly susceptible to pedophiles.

    38. BSA knew or should have known that Scouting attracts pedophiles, in part,
    because (a) Scouting provides the pedophile access to boys alone and away from their parents in
    secluded settings like campouts and overnight hikes; (b) Scouting provides opportunities for the
    pedophile to seduce a boy by getting him in situations where the boy has to change clothing or
    spend the night with him; (c) the pedophile Scout leader can, depending on the pedophile's age
    preference, volunteer for and be sure to have access only to boys of a certain age; (d) BSA
    conditions boys to the concept of strict obedience to the Scout leader in a bonding mechanism that
    pedophiles crave; (e) BSA promotes the idea of secret ceremonies, rituals and loyalty oaths, all of

    8

    which facilitate the pedophile's efforts to keep his victims silent and compliant; (f) at the time of
    the abuse, BSA conducted no criminal background checks on these volunteers or even suggested
    such was advisable.

    39. BSA was aware that it had ejected thousands of pedophiles from its ranks of
    leadership in local Scout troops and failed to inform the Scouts and their parents of that fact.

    40. BSA knew or should have known that if they advised parents of this statistical
    phenomenon, parents might well remove their boys from Scouting, thus depriving BSA of
    millions of dollars of income.

    41. BSA knew or should have known that its "ineligible volunteers" system of
    keeping track of pedophiles infiltrating its ranks and attempting to eliminate them did not function
    as intended, it was flawed, and in many cases ineffective. Despite that knowledge, BSA did
    nothing to educate its Scouts and their parents of the ineffectiveness nor the enormity of the
    pedophile problem, nor to take action to correct its screening and/or educational system.

    42. Defendant Hein was a Scoutmaster of the Boy Scout Troop 84 in Chester,
    Pennsylvania for the benefit of the Marshallton 2nd Ward. Defendant Hein was also a Youth
    Leader within the LDS Church, specifically the congregation of the Marshallton 2nd Ward. In
    this capacity, Hein exercised a position of religious authority over Plaintiff Novak with the
    knowledge and consent of the Boy Scout and/or LDS Church Defendants.

    43. The Chester County Council, Boy Scout Troop 84, was controlled and co-
    sponsored by the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants.

    44. At all times relevant hereto, virtually all of the members of Defendant Hein's local
    troop were members of the Marshallton 2nd Ward.

    9

    45. Upon information and belief, all of the BSA meetings of Defendant Hein's Troop
    were also considered LDS Church meetings.

    46. Serving as a BSA Scoutmaster and LDS Church leader, Defendant Hein actively
    groomed young boys under his charge for later sexual molestation, including the then minor-
    Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    47. Plaintiff Melvin Novak was raised in a devout LDS family, was baptized,
    confirmed and regularly attended LDS functions on a daily and weekly basis as a member of the
    Marshallton 2nd Ward congregation.

    48. The Boy Scout and/or the LDS Defendants knew or should have known that
    Defendant Hein posed a sexual threat to young boys, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin
    Novak.

    49. Defendant Hein became a Scoutmaster and Youth leader in the early 1990s at his
    Church, the Marshallton 2nd Ward congregation of the LDS Church.

    50. During the time that Plaintiff was a minor, Defendant Hein molested, sexually,
    physically, mentally, psychologically and emotionally abused then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    51. Beginning when Plaintiff was about 14 years old, sometime in approximately 1998,
    Defendant Hein began to inappropriately role play with the then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.
    For example, Defendant would tell Plaintiff: "A friend is in trouble. What would you do to help
    save your friend? Would you get undressed if that was necessary to save your friend?"

    52. Defendant Hein used role playing as a grooming device to sexually assault
    Plaintiff.

    10

    53. The molestation and abuse by Hein of Plaintiff included groping and fondling of
    Plaintiffs genitals and other lewd and lascivious acts.

    54. Defendant Hein made Plaintiff strip naked with his hands fixed behind his back
    and hit the Plaintiff with a stick.

    55. Defendant Hein also dripped hot wax on the Plaintiffs penis and made the
    Plaintiff masturbate in front of him.

    56. Defendant Hein also tied Plaintiffs arms and ankles to a bed while naked and
    made Plaintiff watch pornographic movies.

    57. Defendant also squeezed Plaintiffs testicles to inflict pain on the Plaintiff.

    58. Defendant Hein manipulated Plaintiff, who was of tender years, into believing that
    engaging in such acts would enable Plaintiff the privilege of joining a "brotherhood."

    59. The sexual abuse and assault of Plaintiff occurred from approximately June 1998
    continuing through approximately September 1999.

    60. These sexually abusive incidents described above occurred at Hein's home, parks
    and fields, Scout meetings, Scout camps, and during a "special" trip to Canada.

    61. Defendant Hein told Plaintiff and his family that he worked as an IT supervisor for
    a "Canadian entertainment company," referred to as OnlineCasino.com. The company was
    purportedly based in Canada.

    62. In or about the Spring of 1999, Defendant Hein asked Plaintiffs parents for
    permission for Plaintiff to accompany him on a business trip to Montreal, Canada. Defendant
    Hein told Plaintiffs parents that Plaintiff would learn computer software and programming skills.

    63. Based on these false representations, deceptions and lies, Plaintiff and his parents

    11

    agreed to have Plaintiff accompany Defendant Hein on the trip, where Defendant Hein sexually
    assaulted Plaintiff, as described above.

    64. After Plaintiff had returned from the trip to Canada, Plaintiff told his parents that
    Defendant Hein had sexually assaulted him.

    65. Plaintiffs parents subsequently reported Defendant Hein's sexual assault to the

    police.

    66. After a police investigation, Defendant Hein admitted his crimes against the then-
    minor, Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    67. Defendant Hein subsequently pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting the then-
    minor-Plaintiff, Melvin Novak.

    68. In approximately May 2000, Defendant Hein was sentenced to 1 5 years of
    probation for his crimes of indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

    69. In September 201 1, while on probation for his sexual assault of Plaintiff,
    Defendant Hein was arrested for possession of child pornography.

    70. In or about May 2012, Defendant Hein entered a guilty plea to possession of child
    pornography.

    71. In or about August 2012, Defendant Hein was sentenced to a prison term of 15 to
    30 years.

    72. As a convicted felon deemed to be a sexually violent predator by the State's Sexual
    Offender's Assessment Board, Defendant Hein will be subject to the community notification
    requirements required under Megan's Law.

    12

    73. Defendant Hein's above-described acts constitute conduct in violation of the
    Pennsylvania Criminal Code.

    74. Defendant Hein occupied a position of authority, respect and trust over Plaintiff in
    that Hein was an adult, a LDS Youth Leader and BSA Scoutmaster.

    75. Plaintiff felt great trust, faith and confidence in Defendant Hein.

    76. Plaintiff suffered profound emotional and psychological harm as a result of Hein's
    sexual molestation, including but not limited to alcoholism, substance abuse, anxiety, depression,
    and/or panic attacks in his adult life.

    77. Defendant Hein destroyed Plaintiffs ability to have a normal, happy life. Without
    the active participation of the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, Hein could not have
    committed his crimes and inflicted profound psychological injuries against then minor-Plaintiff
    Melvin Novak.

    78. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants authorized Hein to serve as a BSA
    Scoutmaster and Youth Leader and Hein served as such for years prior to his sexual molestation
    of then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    79. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants thus knew or had reason to know, or
    were otherwise on notice, of the unlawful sexual conduct of Hein, and failed to take reasonable
    steps, and to implement reasonable safeguards to avoid acts of unlawful sexual conduct by him.

    80. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants failed to prevent or avoid Hein's
    placement in a function or environment to prevent one-on-one contact with adolescent and
    pre-adolescent boys as an inherent part of that function or environment.

    13

    81. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants had a special relationship with scouts
    and other boys, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak, who participated in scouting
    programs.

    82. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants had a special relationship with adult Youth
    Leaders and Scoutmasters who they approved and authorized to work with children, including then
    minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak, whose parents entrusted him to their care.

    83. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Hein utilized physical, emotional, and spiritual
    force and suasion to impose his immoral will upon the then-minor Plaintiff in order to commit
    grievous, unspeakable acts of sexual abuse upon the person of then-minor Plaintiff, all of which acts
    constitute flagrant abuse of the symbolism, power, and authority of his position as a Youth Leader and
    Scoutmaster.

    84. Upon information and belief, by the time that Defendant Hein began his predacious
    sexual activity upon then-minor Plaintiff, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants knew or should
    have known of Defendant Hein's propensity for such conduct, yet they did not provide to young boys
    or their families, including Plaintiff, any warning of, or safeguard against, Defendant Hein's appetite
    for such harmful, illegal, and immoral conduct.

    85. Upon information and belief, at all times relevant hereto, the Boy Scout and LDS
    Church Defendants, knew or should have known of the sexually predacious acts of Defendant Hein
    upon Plaintiff. Despite this knowledge, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, exerted no
    supervisory control over, and took no disciplinary action against, Defendant Hein in order to prevent
    him from committing further harmful, illegal, and immoral acts upon then-minor Plaintiff.

    14

    86. Upon information and belief, directly contrary to their sacred obligation to watch over
    and protect young boys and members of their scouting programs and religious congregations,
    including then-minor Plaintiff, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, as well as Defendant Hein,
    entered upon, adopted, and/or followed a course of action to conceal from young boys and their
    families, and civil and criminal authorities, the harmful, illegal, and immoral acts Defendant Hein
    committed upon then-minor Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    87. Upon information and belief, the course of action entered upon, adopted, and/or
    followed by the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, and Defendant Hein, was part of and
    consistent with their pattern of concealing the harmful, illegal, and immoral acts of other pedophilic
    Youth Leaders and Scoutmasters. Hois pattern included, but was not limited to, concealing and/or
    destroying evidence of the misconduct of pedophilic Youth Leaders and Scoutmasters.

    88. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants deliberately withheld information from
    scouts and their parents, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak and his parents. The withheld
    information included: the true nature and extent of pedophilia in scouting; the warning signs of abuse
    in scouting, of which BSA and/or the LDS Church were aware; and the methods pedophiles had been
    using to gain access to scouts, to groom them for abuse, and to keep them silent. Defendants' timely
    communication of this information would have enabled scouts, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin
    Novak, to protect himself from sexual abuse by pedophiles in scouting.

    89. Then-minor Plaintiff Melvin Novak did not know, nor did they have any reason
    to know, that the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants deliberately concealed Defendant
    Hein's proclivity for and history of committing sexual abuse, thereby placing him at risk of
    sexual abuse.

    15

    90. Upon information and belief, the conspiracy among the Boy Scout and LDS
    Church Defendants, and Defendant Hein, to avoid civil and criminal liability for the harmful,
    illegal, and immoral acts of their Scoutmasters and Youth Leaders, including Defendant Hein,
    existed before Plaintiffs sexual assault at the hands of Defendant Hein.

    9 1 . Had BS A and/or LDS Church notified or advised Plaintiff; his parents; or civil
    authorities, or otherwise been candid with the scouting public regarding the pervasiveness of
    sexual abuse of boys by an alarmingly large percentage of BSA's adult scout leaders, then
    minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak would either (1) not have joined the BSA or (2) not been
    allowed to join BSA by his parents.

    92. Had BSA and/or LDS Church informed Plaintiff of the nature and frequency of
    the risks of abuse by adult scout leaders, Plaintiff would have taken steps to protect himself from the
    grooming and sexual abuse to which his adult Scoutmaster and Youth Leader subjected him.

    93. As a direct and proximate result of the negligence, breaches of duty, misconduct and
    resulting molestation and sexual assault of then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak as described herein,
    Plaintiff Melvin Novak has suffered and continues to suffer a loss of his enjoyment of life, physical
    injury, severe emotional distress, severe depression, anxiety, embarrassment, pain and suffering,
    humiliation, loss of vocation and loss of earnings, loss of faith, and his ability to live a normal life, and
    has incurred, or will incur, medical, hospital, and psychiatric expenses in connection therewith.

    16

    COUNT I
    Fraudulent Concealment and Estoppel
    Plaintiff Melvin Novak v. All Defendants)

    94. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein

    95. Congress founded BSA in the United States in 1910.

    96. Since 1910, hundreds of millions of parents have entrusted their sons to BSA's care,

    guidance, and instruction.

    97. Since its inception, BSA aggressively marketed the wholesomeness and safety of its

    programs to the American public.

    98. Simultaneously, BSA fraudulently concealed from scouts, their parents, and the
    American taxpayer BSA's certain knowledge that pedophiles had been infiltrating BSA in large numbers
    for many years. BSA fraudulently concealed said information from Plaintiff and his parents. BSA
    also misrepresented to scouts, their parents, and the American taxpayer that scouts were safe in
    scouting programs when, in fact, scouts were at an unreasonably heightened risk of sexual abuse by
    adult scout leaders. BSA made said misrepresentations to Plaintiff and his parents.

    99. BSA's internal records, known as the "Ineligible Volunteer" files (hereinafter "the I.V.
    files"), are a unique repository of documents BSA secretly began amassing shortly after its founding in
    1910.

    100. The I.V. files reveal that BSA, far from being safe and wholesome, has long attracted
    and been a sanctuary for pedophiles.

    17

    101. The I. V. files contain internal memoranda demonstrating BS A' s awareness and concern
    about the threat that pedophiles in BSA posed to its name, reputation, and economic interests, but little
    concern for the danger pedophiles presented to scouts and others in the community.

    102. BSA's I.V. files are a hidden repository of informative data containing the
    identities of pedophiles that had successfully infiltrated scouting. The I.V. files highlight BSA's
    vulnerabilities, including pedophiles' techniques used to enter scouting, pedophiles' patterns for
    grooming victims, and widely-found biographical and behavioral characteristics shared by pedophiles
    that had entered or were attempting to enter scouting.

    103. The overwhelming evidence the I.V. files present shows that for a century BSA has
    known of BSA's distinctive characteristics that render scouts particularly prone to pedophiles'
    abuse.

    104. By 1935, BSA had accumulated approximately 2,000 files on pedophiles that had
    successfully infiltrated or attempted to infiltrate its program.

    1 05 . In the 1 970s, BSA recognized the potential liabilities represented by possessing and
    maintai ning the I.V. files. By 2005, BSA's secret cache of files on pedophiles exceeded 20,000.

    106. Over the course of two years in the early 1970s, three BSA executives reviewed and
    permanently destroyed thousands of I.V. files.

    1 07. BSA executives kept no retention logs showing which or how many of the files BSA
    destroyed. BSA made no contemporaneous record of its criteria in determining which files to destroy
    and which to save.

    108. Approximately 6,000 files survived BSA's file-purge and are in BSA's possession.
    Approximately 1900 of those files are now in the public domain.

    18

    109. The files demonstrate that BSA opened a new I.V. file on a pedophile every other day
    for fifty years.

    1 10. The I.V. files demonstrate that BSA had overwhelming evidence (1) that scouting
    attracts pedophiles at an alarming rate and (2) of scouting's distinctive characteristics that make it
    attractive to pedophiles, including:

    (a) Scouting provides a pedophile access to boys alone and away from their parents
    in secluded settings like camp-outs and overnight hikes;

    (b) Scouting provides opportunities for a pedophile to seduce a boy by getting him
    in situations where the boy has to change clothing or spend the night with him;

    (c) A pedophile scout leader can, depending on the pedophile's preferred victim
    age, volunteer for and be sure to have access only to boys of a certain age;

    (d) BSA conditions boys to the concept of strict obedience to the scout leader and a
    bonding mechanism that pedophiles crave;

    (e) BSA promotes the idea of secret ceremonies, rituals, and loyalty oaths, all of
    which help facilitate a pedophile's efforts to keep his victims silent and
    compliant;

    (f) BSA conducted no criminal background checks on its volunteers;

    (g) BSA did not prohibit adults from sleeping in tents with boys overnight;

    (h) BSA did not prohibit adult leaders from spending time alone with individual
    scouts;

    (i) BSA did not prohibit adult scout leaders from having contact with
    scouts outside of authorized scouting activities;

    (j) For decades, BSA re-admitted pedophiles it had previously removed for child
    abuse after a period of BSA "probation," thereby exposing unsuspecting
    children to sexual abuse;

    (k) BSA had a practice of not reporting scout abuse incidents to law enforcement;

    19

    (1) BSA had a pattern of reaching an accommodation with a pedophile, in which the
    pedophile would resign from scouting and the BSA would agree not to report
    the child sexual abuse to civil authorities;

    (m) BSA refused requests to share its list of known abusers with other youth

    organizations, knowing that pedophiles it had ejected often joined other youth-
    serving organizations;

    (n) BSA refused to produce its LV. files to its review board and scout- safety
    consultants, who were endeavoring to develop and implement meaningful
    safeguards and barriers to pedophile infiltration;

    (o) BSA refused to fingerprint, photograph or perform background checks on its
    adult volunteers, allowing removed pedophiles using an alias to sneak
    back in to scouting through another troop;

    (p) BSA refused to utilize widely-accepted organizational best practices that would
    establish reasonable barriers to intrusion by pedophiles;

    (q) BSA refused to educate local councils, staff, and troop leaders regarding the
    true risks posed by pedophiles to scouts; and

    ( r) BSA refused to effectively monitor local councils and troops to ensure that

    appropriate safeguards were being used in the selection and retention of adult
    scout leaders.

    111. Between 1 987 and 2005, BSA settled sixty-one lawsuits in which BSA was
    allegedly negligent in failing to warn or protect scouts from sexually abusive adult scout
    leaders.

    112. Since 1987, BSA has paid millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts arising
    from sexual abuse of scouts by scout leaders. Upon information and belief, many of these settlements
    included confidentiality agreements required by BSA to prevent the abuse's facts and circumstances
    from becoming public.

    20

    113. BSA continues to make false and misleading public statements regarding the risks of
    sexual abuse in scouting; continues to minimize and downplay the harm of sexual abuse to children in
    scouting; fails to reach out to provide support and assistance to boys it knows were sexually abused by
    adult scout leaders; and continues to deny the truth about its historical knowledge of the nature and
    extent of sexual abuse of scouts by adult scout leaders.

    1 14. BSA failed to establish reasonable safeguards to prevent pedophiles from entering its
    programs.

    115. BSA has known for decades that scouting involved an unreasonably high risk of sexual
    abuse by adult scout leaders. BSA made repeated false counterfactual claims that the number of
    pedophiles in scouting was comparatively small, that scouts were reasonably safe from sexual abuse by
    adult scout leaders, and that BSA is not a magnet for pedophiles, all of which BSA made (1) knowing
    that the claims were false or (2) with reckless disregard for the truth or falsity.

    1 16. Plaintiff Melvin Novak trusted BSA and reasonably relied upon the BSA's
    representations that it presented a moral and safe place for boys.

    1 1 7. Had BSA notified Plaintiff, his parents, civil authorities, or the scouting public of the
    pervasiveness of sexual abuse by BSA's adult scout leaders, Plaintiff would either not have joined the
    BSA or been allowed by his parents to join BSA or, if BSA had educated him of the nature of risks of
    abuse by adult scout leaders, that he would have taken steps to protect himself from the grooming and
    sexual abuse to which his adult scout leader subjected him.

    118. BSA deliberately withheld information from scouts and their parents, including
    Plaintiff and his parents. The withheld information included: the true nature and extent of pedophilia in
    scouting; the warning signs of abuse in scouting, of which BSA was aware; and the methods

    21

    pedophiles had been using to gain access to scouts, to groom them for abuse, and to keep them silent.
    BSA's timely communication of this information would have enabled scouts, including Plaintiff, to
    protect himself from sexual abuse by pedophiles in scouting.

    1 19. BSA had a financial incentive to withhold facts and information about
    predatory and pedophilic Scoutmasters.

    120. Since 1910, BSA has derived millions of dollars per year licensing the rights to
    its name, emblems, scouting paraphernalia, and BSA-branded merchandise to affiliated
    scouting organizations throughout the United States and abroad (See 36 U.S.C. § 80305). BSA
    has realized income from these federally-protected assets by marketing them to parents and their
    children, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    121 . BSA's marketing includes encouraging parents to enroll their children in BSA.
    Enrollment secures parents' and children's commitment to follow a system that encourages parents to
    entrust their children's health and safety to BSA. This entrustment empowers BSA to secure each
    child's oath to uphold the "Scout Law," to adopt the "Scout" identity, and to adhere to a system that
    requires children to engage in activities that expose them to adults and others. This system includes over-
    night outings, camping events, and trips away from parents. The system is reward-based, obligating the
    child to purchase emblems, badges, and other Scouting paraphernalia, which in turn creates profit for
    the federally-charted organization.

    122. In addition to being federally created, federally chartered, and endowed by Congress
    with exclusive economic rights, BSA is funded by the federal government, private donations, membership
    dues, corporate sponsors, and special events.

    22

    123. BSA is the 18 th largest nonprofit in the United States, with income exceeding $780
    million dollars a year.

    124. BSA receives many federal subsidies, including (1) free access to national forest lands
    (16 USC § 539f); (2) free use of Defense Department equipment and facilities for BSA Jamborees (10
    U.S.C. § 2554); (3) free ground and air transportation, communications, emergency, and technical services
    from the National Guard (32 U.S.C. § 508); (4) free use of meeting facilities, transportation, and support
    services at United States military bases worldwide (10 U.S.C. § 2606); (5) free firearms, ammunition,
    repairs, supplies, and marksmanship training equipment (36 U.S.C. § 40731); and (6) free military surplus
    (10 U.S.C. Ch. 943) and Department of Agriculture grants (7 U.S.C. § 7630).

    125. Based upon the LDS Church's long-standing and close partnership with the BSA, the
    LDS Church Defendants knew or should have known of the epidemic of pedophiles infiltrating the
    BSA and BSA's deliberate choice to conceal, mislead, and/or withhold information from scouts and
    their parents, including Plaintiff and his parents.

    126. Upon information and belief, the Boy Scout and/or LDS Church Defendants engaged
    in a plan of action to cover up incidents of the sexual abuse of minors by Scoutmasters and Youth
    Leaders and prevent disclosure, prosecution and civil litigation including, but not limited to:

    (a) Failure to report incidents of abuse to law enforcement or child protection
    agencies;

    (b) Concealment of abuse they had substantiated and failure to seek out and
    redress the injuries its Scoutmasters and leaders had caused; and

    (c) Failure to advise local scouting agencies of the rampant problem of sexual
    abuse of scouts by Scoutmasters and leaders and that BSA's system of
    "Ineligible Volunteer Files" was ineffective at curbing the problem.

    23

    127. Based on these actions, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants engaged in
    fraudulent concealment and are estopped from asserting defense of statute of limitations and/or laches.

    128. The above-described conduct of the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants was
    willful and outrageous, was committed in reckless disregard of the probability of causing Plaintiff
    severe emotional distress, mental anguish, humiliation, and psychological, spiritual, and physical injury
    and illness, and was otherwise intended to cause injury to then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    129. Additionally, in doing the acts as described herein, the Boy Scout and LDS Church
    Defendants were guilty of fraud, oppression, or malice.

    130. As a direct and proximate result of the practice of deceit, deception, lies, concealment
    and fraud by the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, and Defendant Hein, then minor-Plaintiff
    Melvin Novak was victimized by Defendant Hein and sustained the injuries and damages set forth
    herein.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church

    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars

    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    COUNT II
    Civil Conspiracy
    ( Plaintiff Melvin Novak v. All Defendants)

    131. Plaintiff incorporates all preceding paragraphs of this complaint as if fully set forth

    herein.

    132. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, by and through their agents and
    representatives, conspired to cover up incidents of sexual abuse of minors by Scoutmasters, including
    Defendant Hein, and to prevent disclosure, prosecution and civil litigation including, but not limited to:

    24

    (a) Failure to report incidents of childhood sexual abuse to law enforcement or
    child protection agencies;

    (b) Denial of abuse BSA had substantiated; aiding criminal child molesters in
    evading detection, arrest, and prosecution;

    (c) Allowing pedophiles to cross state and international borders for purposes
    of gaining access to uninformed parents' children, whom they could sexually
    abuse;

    (d) Failure to warn; and failure to seek out and redress the injuries its adult
    Scoutmasters had caused.

    133. Based on these actions, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, by and through
    their agents and representatives, conspired for the unlawful purpose of concealing and suppressing
    information on the danger and threat that Defendant Hein posed to unsuspecting children, including
    then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    134. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants placed their own interests ahead of the
    protection of children, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    135. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants conspiratorial conduct in concealing the
    dangers of sexual abuse of Scoutmasters and Youth Leaders, including Defendant Hein, constitutes
    outrageous or egregious wrongdoing in willful disregard for Plaintiffs rights.

    136. As a direct and proximate result of the conspiratorial conduct of the Boy Scout and
    LDS Church Defendants, and Defendant Hein, then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak was victimized by
    Defendant Hein and sustained the injuries and damages set forth herein.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church
    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars
    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    25

    COUNT IU

    Willful Misconduct, Wanton Misconduct and Reckless Misconduct
    fPlaintiff Melvin Novak v. All Defendants)

    137. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein.

    138. The conduct described above shows that the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants
    engaged in willful, wanton, and/or reckless misconduct that reflects its conscious disregard of
    children's health and safety, including then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak, and/or the Boy Scout and
    LDS Church Defendants' intent to harm.

    139. At the very least, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants were recklessly
    indifferent to injury that would likely result from its acts or omissions. Defendants knew that
    pedophiles were infiltrating scouting at an alarming rate, and it knew that children would suffer severe
    damage and harm from being sexually abused as a result of this infiltration.

    140. Plaintiff Melvin Novak was a victim of the Boy Scout and LDS Defendants' reckless
    indifference and/or their willful and wanton misconduct.

    141. As a direct and proximate result of the willful, wanton and/or reckless misconduct of
    the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, and Defendant Hein, then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak
    was victimized by Defendant Hein and sustained the injuries and damages set forth herein.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church
    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars
    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    26

    COUNT IV
    Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
    (Plaintiff Melvin Novak v. All Defendants)

    142. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein.

    143. Defendant Hein repeatedly, persistently, and unlawfully sexually abused Plaintiff while
    Plaintiff was a minor.

    144. The sexual abuse of then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak by Defendant Hein was
    unlawful.

    145. Defendant Hein engaged in a pattern of intentional and outrageous activity with the
    plaintiff that was so outrageous in character and so extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible
    bounds of decency.

    146. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Hein knew or should have known that his
    conduct would cause then-minor Plaintiff to experience severe emotional distress and mental trauma.

    147. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants also knew or should have known that
    Defendant Hein was a dangerous child molester and sexual predator.

    148. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants knew or should have known of Defendant
    Hein's sexual misconduct and knew or should have known that Defendant Hein's conduct would cause
    then minor Plaintiff to experience severe emotional distress and mental anguish.

    149. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants further knew or should have known that it
    was substantially certain that the pedophiles, such as Defendant Hein, would continue to sexually abuse
    children, including the abuse they inflicted upon Plaintiff, if Defendants failed to warn parents or failed

    27

    to report the pedophiles to civil authorities and that such abuse would cause severe and emotional
    distress to then-minor Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    1 50. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants' conduct was an outrageous violation of
    societal norms and went so far beyond all possible bounds of decency so as to be regarded as atrocious
    and utterly intolerable in a civilized community which resulted in severe emotional distress to then-
    minor Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    151. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants' conduct was a result of a willful,
    reckless, and outrageous indifference to highly unreasonable risk of harm and a conscious indifference
    to Plaintiffs health, safety, and welfare.

    152. As a direct and proximate result of the intentional conduct of the Boy Scout and LDS
    Church Defendants, and Defendant Hein, then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak was victimized by
    Defendant Hein and sustained the injuries and damages set forth herein.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church

    Defendants and Defendant Hein Jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars

    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    COUNT V
    Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
    (Plaintiff Melvin Novak v. All Defendants^

    153. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein.

    1 54. As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the Boy Scout and LDS Church
    Defendants, and Defendant Hein, Plaintiff has sustained severe emotional distress, which has required
    and/or will require him to undergo medical, psychological, mental health and/or psychiatric treatment.

    28

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church

    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars

    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    COUNT VI
    Assault and Battery
    (Plaintiff Mclvin Novak v. Defendant Hein )

    155. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein.

    156. Each time that Defendant Hein committed an act of sexual abuse on then-minor
    Plaintiff as described herein, he did so without consent and committed an unlawful touching of the
    person of then-minor Plaintiff.

    157. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant Hein's unlawful touching of then-minor
    Plaintiffs person without consent, then-minor Plaintiff Melvin Novak sustained the damages set forth
    herein.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church

    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars

    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    COUNT VII
    Negligence
    (Plaintiff Melvin Novak v. All Defendants)

    158. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein.

    29

    159. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Hein was under the direction, supervision and
    control of the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants.

    160. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants selected, accepted, ratified, approved and
    authorized Defendant Hein to serve and act as Youth Leader and Scoutmaster for the benefit of church
    members of the Marshallton 2nd Ward and Troop 84.

    161. Based upon BSA's knowledge or previous incidents involving pedophiles and its
    knowledge and information regarding pedophiles within its organization, BSA could reasonably
    foresee future incidents involving pedophile Scoutmasters, volunteers, employees, agents and/or
    apparent agents, representatives, including Defendant Hein.

    162. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants owed a duty to then-minor Plaintiff
    Melvin Novak to prevent child molestors from serving and acting as Youth Leaders and Scoutmasters
    with easy access to children.

    163. The Boy Scout and/or LDS Church Defendants were negligent in screening, training,
    hiring, supervising and retaining Defendant Hein as a Scoutmaster and Youth Leader when
    Defendants knew or should have known that Defendant Hein posed a threat of sexual abuse to
    children, including, but not limited to, the following:

    (a) Failing adequately to investigate the previous activities of Defendant Hein;

    (b) Failing adequately to investigate the background, character and fitness of
    Defendant Hein to serve as a Scoutmaster and Youth Leader;

    (c) Failing adequately to investigate and/or inquire into Defendant Hein's criminal
    background or history;

    (d) Failing adequately to investigate any Defendant Hein's prior relationships with
    minor children;

    30

    (e) Failing adequately to subject Defendant Hein to adequate and appropriate
    psychological and mental testing in order to uncover his pedophilic and/or
    homosexual tendencies and proclivities;

    (f) Failing adequately to supervise and/or monitor properly Defendant Hein's
    conduct during the time he served as a Scoutmaster and Youth Leader;

    (g) Failing adequately to have in place and/or enforce systems, policies, and/or
    procedures to detect sexual and/or physical abuse of minor children by
    Scoutmasters and Youth Leader;

    (h) Failing adequately to have in place and/or force systems, policies, and/or
    procedures to monitor and supervise Scoutmasters and Youth Leaders who
    work closely with or come into contact with minor children;

    (i) Allowing Hein to routinely conduct BSA meetings at his home with no other
    adults present;

    (j) Allowing Hein to travel with children with no other adults present;

    (k) Ignoring warning signs that Hein was using his BSA position to spend hours
    alone with individual scouts (including Plaintiff) for the purpose of sexually
    abusing them;

    (1) Failing adequately to discover, investigate, or question the fact that Hein was
    utilizing scout meetings to engage in improper "grooming" behaviors to
    sexually desensitize scouts, including Plaintiff;

    (m) Failing adequately to take prompt action to remove Hein as a Scoutmaster and
    Youth Leader after complaints and/or suspicions of sexual molestation;

    (n) Failing adequately to take action to investigate all adults involved in scouting
    after notice that other BSA Scoutmasters and Youth Leaders were sexually
    abusing scouts;

    (o) Failing adequately to adopt or enforce a two-adult rule;

    (p) Failing adequately to conduct criminal background or other background checks
    on new or existing Scoutmasters, or more carefully screen Scoutmasters and
    Youth Leaders who did not then have and never had sons in Scouting;

    (q) Failing adequately to timely adopt policies and procedures to protect children;

    31

    (r) Failing adequately to advise parents of statistical data available to BS A from
    the Ineligible Volunteer Files;

    (s) Failing adequately to advise parents that the LV. file system of ejection of
    volunteers as the primary method of protecting Scouts from pedophiles was
    ineffective;

    (t) Failing adequately to maintain, review and update the Ineligible Volunteer
    Files;

    (u) Failing adequately to warn parents of information regarding adult Scoutmasters
    and Youth Leaders and their propensity to engage in inappropriate behavior
    with scouts;

    (v) Failing adequately to communicate information regarding Scoutmasters, Youth
    Leaders, employees, volunteers, and/or agents to their operative branches,
    councils, wards throughout the United States; and

    (w) Failing adequately to require local councils to submit names of leaders,

    volunteers and employees for cross-checking with the Ineligible Volunteer
    Files.

    164. During all relevant times hereto, Defendant Hein was conducting himself in such a
    manner and fashion that the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants knew or should have known that
    Defendant Hein had a propensity to commit and engage in sexual misconduct.

    165. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants were negligent by failing adequately to
    supervise the conduct and the activities of Defendant Hein.

    166. If the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants had properly and adequately supervised
    the conduct and the activities of Defendant Hein, they would have known or should have known of the
    misconduct of Defendant Hein, so as to prevent the sexual abuse and infliction of emotional distress on
    then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    167. Had the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants not acted in such a careless, negligent,
    and/or reckless manner, they would have known and should have known of the conduct of Defendant

    32

    Hein, as described herein, and of his propensity to engage in such activities, such that the Boy Scout
    and LDS Church Defendants could have prevented the sexual abuse and the infliction of emotional
    distress on then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    1 68. Upon information and belief, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants knew or
    should have known of Defendant Hein's propensities to have inappropriate conduct, emotional, sexual,
    and otherwise, with minor children, but failed to take any disciplinary or remedial action to prevent
    Defendant Hein from having contact with minor children, which failure directly resulted in the sexual
    abuse of then minor- Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    1 69. Upon information and belief, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants knew or
    should have known that Defendant Hein had committed acts of sexual deviance and impropriety upon
    minor children, but failed to take any remedial or disciplinary measures against Defendant Hein, which
    failure directly resulted in the sexual abuse of then minor- Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    1 70. Upon information and belief, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants failed to
    discipline Defendant Hein for the harmful, illegal, and immoral acts he committed on then-minor
    Plaintiff and failed to report said acts to the appropriate civil and criminal authorities.

    171 . The conduct of the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants was outrageous, shocking
    and committed with utter disregard for the welfare of then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    172. As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the Boy Scout and LDS Church
    Defendants, and Defendant Hein, then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak was victimized by Defendant
    Hein and sustained the injuries and damages set forth herein.

    33

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church
    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars
    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    COUNT Mil
    Statutory Violation; Negligence Per Se
    fPlaintiff Melvin Novak v. All Defendants)

    173. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein.

    1 74. At all times relevant hereto, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, by and
    through their agents, volunteers, and/or employees, in the course of their practice and profession,
    regularly came into contact with children, such as Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    175. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, as well as defendant Hein, were at all
    times relevant hereto legally obligated under the "Child Protective Services Law" to report suspected
    child abuse to the Department of Public Welfare or county child protective service agencies. See 1 1
    P.S. § 2201, etseq. (repealed); 23 Pa. C.S. § 6301, etseq.

    176. Defendant Hein's sexual assault and exploitation of the then-minor Plaintiff violated
    Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law.

    177. Upon information and belief, Defendant Hein's sexual assault and exploitation of
    Plaintiff, and violation of Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law, was done with the knowledge
    and/or acquiescence of the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants.

    178. Upon information and belief, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants did not report
    to civil or criminal authorities various allegations of sexual abuse of children by Defendant Hein.

    34

    179. As a direct and proximate direct of the failure of the Boy Scout and LDS Church
    Defendants and Defendant Hein to report to civil or criminal authorities allegations of sexual abuse of
    minor children by Defendant Hein, then minor- Plaintiff Melvin Novak was victimized by Defendant
    Hein and sustained the injuries and damages set forth herein.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church

    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars

    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    COUNT IX
    Common Law Duty of Reasonable Care)
    (Plaintiff Melvin Novak v. All Defendants ^

    1 80. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein.

    181. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants were obligated to take reasonable care to
    investigate, supervise, and warn minors and/or their families of the risk of harm occasioned by their
    contact with Defendant Hein and/or other employees, agents, volunteers and/or servants of the Boy
    Scout and/or LDS Church Defendants whom the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants knew or
    should have known were sexually abusing minors.

    1 82. Upon information and belief, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants failed to give
    assistance to victims of sexual abuse.

    183. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants, through its agents, servants,
    representatives, volunteers and/or employees, held themselves out as having control over Defendant
    Hein and as having the ability to protect minors from inappropriate contact and/or child sexual abuse
    by Defendant Hein.

    35

    1 84. Upon information and belief, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants engaged in a
    pattern of inaction or silence when they had an obligation to act or speak.

    185. The Boy Scout and LDS Defendants breached their duty of reasonable care as alleged
    above as follows:

    (a) Ignoring reports of sexual abuse of minors by its Scoutmasters and church
    leaders;

    (b) Failing to report offending Scoutmasters to the appropriate civil and/or
    criminal authorities, including the Department of Public Welfare and/or
    Children and Youth Services;

    (c) Failing to warn minors and their parents, including Plaintiff, of the dangers
    posed by sexually abusive Scoutmasters and Youth Leaders; and

    (d) Failing to remove or suspend offending Scoutmasters and Youth Leaders,
    including Defendant Hein, from their duties or otherwise stop them from
    pursuing sexual assaults on children, including then-minor plaintiff.

    1 86. As a direct and proximate result of the failure of the Boy Scout and LDS Church
    Defendants and Defendant Hein, to exercise reasonable care, then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak was
    victimized by Defendant Hein and sustained the injuries and damages set forth herein.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church

    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars

    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    COUNT X
    (Breach of Fiduciary Duty)
    (Plaintiff v. All Defendants^

    1 87. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if fully stated

    herein.

    36

    188. As a result of the affiliation then minor-Plaintiff had with the Boy Scout and LDS
    Church Defendants, a special fiduciary relationship, of human and spiritual trust, concomitant in loco
    parentis duties, existed between the Plaintiff and the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants.

    1 89. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants were entrusted to with the well-being,
    care, and safety of the then-minor Plaintiff as a result of his status as a member of boy scout and church
    member.

    1 90. Under this fiduciary relationship, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants assumed
    a duty to act in the best interests of Plaintiff, to provide a safe haven, and to ensure the then-minor
    Plaintiffs physical and emotional care and safety.

    191. The Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants placed Plaintiff in the care of Defendant
    Hein for the purposes of, inter alia, providing Plaintiff with religious instruction, training, spiritual
    guidance, and counseling. As such, there existed a fiduciary relationship of trust, confidence, and
    reliance between the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants and then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak.

    192. Plaintiff had a right to rely and did rely upon the representations of the Boy Scout
    and/or LDS Church Defendants that the Scoutmasters and church leaders, including Defendant Hein,
    were individuals in good standing and that the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants would not
    tolerate criminal misconduct by its Scoutmasters and Youth Leaders toward children.

    1 93 . As asserted herein, Defendant Hein sexually assaulted and molested the then-minor
    Plaintiff.

    1 94. Upon information and belief, the Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants and
    Defendant Hein breached their fiduciary duty through their inaction, manipulation, intimidation,

    37

    evasion, intended deception, concealment, undue influence, duress, or otherwise as more folly
    described and set forth herein, resulting in injury to Plaintiff.

    195. As a direct result of the breach of fiduciary duty of the Boy Scout and LDS Church
    Defendants and Defendant Hein, then minor-Plaintiff Melvin Novak suffered injuries and damages as
    set forth herein.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church

    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars

    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    COUNT XI
    (Respondeat Superior)
    (Plaintiff Melvin Novak v. Boy Scout and LDS Church Defendants )

    196. Plaintiff incorporates by reference all of the allegations set forth above as if folly stated

    herein.

    1 97. The Boy Scout and LDS Defendants are liable for the sexual abuse of minor plaintiff
    under the doctrine of respondeat superior.

    198. At all times relevant hereto, Defendant Hein held official positions and/or was
    performing official duties for the Boy Scout and/or LDS Church Defendants, and he was acting as an
    agent of the Boy Scout and/or LDS Church Defendants.

    199. Defendant Hein was at all times under the dominion, authority, and the control of the
    Boy Scout and/or LDS Church Defendants, and was acting within the scope of his agency and/or
    employment, when he performed the egregious and despicable acts of sexual depravity upon then-
    minor Plaintiff.

    38

    200. The Boy Scout and/or LDS Church Defendants are vicariously liable as a principals for
    all torts committed by its agents and/or employees.

    WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against the Boy Scout Defendants, LDS Church
    Defendants and Defendant Hein, jointly and severally, in a sum in excess of Fifty Thousand Dollars
    ($50,000.00) in compensatory damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys fees.

    EISENBERG, ROTHWEILER,
    WINKLER, EISENBERG & JECK, P.C.

    Stewart J. EisenBerg, Esquire^
    Dino Privitera, Esquire
    Attorneys for Plaintiff

    Date: December 12, 2012

    39

    VERIFICATION

    I, Melvin Novak, having read the attached Civil Action Complaint, verify that the within
    Civil Action Complaint is based on information furnished to counsel, which information has
    been gathered by counsel in connection with this lawsuit. The language of the Civil Action
    Complaint is that of counsel and is not mine. I verify that I have read the within Civil Action
    Complaint and that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. To
    the extent that the contents of the Civil Action Complaint are that of counsel, I have relied upon
    counsel in making this verification. This verification is made subject to the penalties of 1 8 Pa.
    C.S.A. §4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities.

    MELVIN NOVAK "

Videos: Vance Hein Mormon sex crime case

    • Video title: Former Boy Scout sues Mormon church for sexual abuse - CNN - 2015-03-23
    • Video description: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and The Boy Scouts of America are facing a lawsuit from a former Boy Scout who over alleged sexual abuse at a church-sponsored Scouting trip. CNN's Kyra Phillips reports."

 

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