Lawrence Libey

Summary

06/26/13 Boise, Idaho

“John Does l-IV sued the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, in Federal Court. Four former Scouts say they were molested by Scout
leaders three of which were LDS.

“John Doe 1 stated that in 1982 he was sodomized and subjected to “physical, sexual and
emotional abuse,” by his LDS scout leader James Schmidt.”

“Doe 1 claims that both BSA and LDS Church were notified as early as 1979 that Schmidt
was a pedophile and had been abusing Scouts.”

“Caldwell police arrested Schmidt in 1983 after interviewing 16 Scouts and their parents
who documented an undisclosed number of cases involving abuse of minors. Schmidt was
ultimately ordered by the court to complete treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in

Baltimore, for “severe pedophilia,” according to the complaint.”

Doe II claims Schmidt began abusing him in 1985, when he was 12 years old.

Doe III claims he was abused for a week by Scout LDS scout volunteer Dennis Empey,
during a camping trip in 1981 . Doe was 14 at the time. “Defendant BSA placed Empey on
its Ineligible Volunteer Files (IV Files) for molesting Scouts in 1988,” the complaint states.

“Letters in Empey’s IV File document that one of the victims – a member of the LDS Church – told his father in 1987 that Empey had abused him in 1981 at an LDS Chapel in Idaho Falls. No one from BSA reported this incident to the police.”

“Empey was convicted of molesting children in Provo, Utah in 1991 , according to the complaint. That year he moved back to Idaho and was hired by the Teton Council of BSA to do graphic design work, the complaint states.”

“In association with another case in Idaho in 2005, a man filed an affidavit stating that Empey had molested him in 1983 at the Island Park Scout Camp,” the complaint states.”

Doe IV, alleges that he was molested in 1972 by Scoutmaster Lawrence Libey whose religious affiliation is unknown. The abuse involved fondling, oral sex, and sodomy and Libey forcing Doe IV to have sex with another boy, Doe IV says in the complaint. He claims the abuse occurred “hundreds of times and lasted for approximately 6 years.”

The BSA Files, according to the complaint, state that:

“Between 1920 and 1935, at least 1,000 child molesters, between 50 to 60 per year, were discovered and subsequently excluded from scouting.”

“Now, 1,365 IV Perversion files still exist that were created between 1960 and 1985, with 25 to 96 IV Perversion files created per year during that time frame. However, the number of IV Perversion files still existing significantly under represent the actual number of adult volunteers that molested scouts because defendant BSA has destroyed many IV Files for a variety of reasons, and because many children do not report their abuse.”

“Seven Scout leaders in Idaho alone were accused of molestation between 1962 and 1977, and three more accusations arose between 1978 and 1983, according to the complaint”

“The plaintiffs claim the BSA and the LDS Church were well aware of the problem. The LDS Church, through individual wards, sponsors many Scout troops in Idaho, and many Scout leaders and volunteers are members of the church, according to the complaint.”

“Scouting was the official program for boys in the LDS Church, and many boys growing up
in the LDS Church were required or strongly encouraged to join scouting,”

Boy Scouts, Mormon Church Accused of Abuse

By PHILIP A. JANQUART

John Doe l-IV v BSA and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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