John Doe – Idaho

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  06/07/12 Idaho

  DOE V. CORP. OF THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF
  LATTER-DAY SAINTS No. 1 :09-cv-00351-BLW (D.)

  “UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

  Four discovery motions are pending before the Court. Plaintiff (Tom Doe) filed two motions
  to compel production of documents - one aimed at the Boy Scout Defendants (Dkt. 1 60)
  and the other at the LDS Church Defendants (Dkt. 163). Defendants responded with
  motions for protective orders that address largely the same issues. (Dkts. 166, 170). The
  Court heard oral argument on June 4, 2012

  FACTS:

  Plaintiff Tom Doe alleges that his scout leader sexually abused him from 1967 through

  1970, beginning when plaintiff was around 13 years old. He says the Boy Scouts of America
  and the LDS Church jointly ran his scout troop, and that both organizations "knew that the
  Scouting program itself posed a danger to adolescent boys because the Scouting program
  had shown a concrete, longstanding, consistent, and widespread problem with sexual
  abuse by Scout leaders and adult volunteers." Second Am. Compl., Dkt. 1 1 0, ^ 24. Doe
  asserts various claims against the Boy Scouts and the Church, including fraud by omission.

  The Requests for Production from the Boy Scouts of America are ruled as follows:

  1 . the Court will limit the time period to 1 950 through 1 972

  (seventeen years before the first alleged abuse and two years after the last) for requests
  seeking documents that could show defendants'

  alleged knowledge regarding child sex abuse within scouting. The Court will typically use a
  more restrictive time period - 1962 to 1972 -for requests seeking documents that could
  show what the defendants did with this knowledge

  2. The Boy Scouts Defendants are ordered to produce responsive documents for the time
  period 1950 to 1972, subject to a protective

  order. The parties are ordered to meet and confer to work out the precise terms of the
  protective order, but, at a minimum, the protective

  order should provide that the following names be redacted before the documents are

  produced: (1 ) the alleged victim; (2) the alleged

  perpetrator; and (3) the people who reported the alleged abuse.

  3. Request No. 24 asks for:

  All complaints or petitions that have been filed against Defendant BSA in any state or
  federal court from 1910-1972, which allege sexual misconduct by an employee, agent,
  and/or adult volunteer of Defendant BSA perpetrated against a minor involved in Scouting.
  The Boy Scout Defendants are ordered to produce all responsive documents, although the
  time frame will be limited to 1950 to 1972.

  4. Request No. 25 asks for:

  All deposition transcripts and videos of deposition testimony given by Paul Ernst and
  successive BSA Directors of Registration related to lawsuits alleging sexual abuse.

  The Boy Scout Defendants are ordered to produce responsive documents, though the
  scope will be limited. Responsive documents should include only those where the named
  individuals testified regarding abuse that occurred during 1950 to 1972. Further, the Boy
  Scouts are ordered to produce documents within their custody and control, even if the
  documents are not in their actual possession. See generally Fed. R. Civ. P. 34 (a)(1) (party
  may serve document request asking for documents within responding party's "possession,
  custody, or control, . . . .").

  Request No. 3 - Reporting and Investigation Policies

  Request No. 3 asks for All documents pertaining to how reports of sexual abuse perpetrated
  by adult volunteers against Boy Scouts

  should be reported, investigated, and/or otherwise addressed by Defendant BSA, local
  councils, and/or Boy Scouts troops during the time period 1910-1972.

  The Boy Scout Defendants offered to produce responsive documents for the time period
  1962 to 1970. The Court will order the Boy Scout Defendants to produce responsive
  documents for a slightly broader period - from 1962 to 1972.

  Request No. 5 - Sex Abuse Prevention Documents

  Request No. 5 asks for All documents pertaining to sexual abuse prevention and/or the risk
  of sexual abuse of Boy Scouts by adult volunteers, which were distributed to adult
  volunteers, parents or guardians of Boy Scouts, and/or Boy Scouts themselves during the
  years 1910-1972. The Boy Scout Defendants are ordered to produce responsive
  documents for the time period 1962 through 1972.

  Request No. 23 - Meeting Minutes.

  Request No. 23 asks for: All minutes of all meetings of the National Office, Boy Scouts of
  America, and Management Executive Staff from 1910-1972, which pertains to the sexual
  abuse of Boy Scouts." The Boy Scout Defendants are ordered to produce responsive
  documents, but the time frame will be limited to 1 950 to 1 972.

  Request No. 28 - Information Related to IV Files

  This requests asks for: "All versions of BSA's internal memorandum regarding the
  procedures for creating an IV File." The Boy Scout

  Defendants are ordered to produce responsive documents, but the time frame will be limited
  to 1950 to 1972.

  Request No. 33 - Warnings to Scouts, Parents, Volunteers

  This requests asks for: All documents distributed to adult volunteers, parents or guardians
  of Boy Scouts, or Boy Scouts themselves in Troop 101 during the time period 1962-1972
  that specifically warn about and/or address the subject of adult volunteers who sexually
  abuse Boy Scouts. The Boy Scout Defendants agreed to produce responsive documents for
  the time period 1967 to 1972. These defendants are ordered to produce documents
  responsive to the broader time frame set out in the request - 1 962 to 1 972.

  REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION FROM THE CHURCH ARE RULED AS FOLLOWS:

  1 ,:Request No. 18 asks for:AII documents concerning any allegation of child abuse against
  any stake president, bishop, home teacher, youth group leader, Sunday school teacher, or
  person in any other calling or assignment, occurring during the period 1950 to 1972. In their
  briefing, the parties began referring to these documents as "historical documents."
  Additionally, at this point, plaintiff has narrowed the request to historical documents for LDS
  churches within the State of Idaho. The Church indicated that historical documents typically
  include benign records, such as Sunday meeting programs. Church counsel also indicated
  that searching through microfiche records to produce these documents would be
  exceedingly difficult. The Court denies this request because plaintiff has not shown how the
  larger category of documents sought (records for the whole state)is relevant. The Church is,
  however, ordered to follow through on its offer to produce historical documents for plaintiffs
  Nampa ward and stake dating back to 1950

  2. Request No. 19 asks for:

  All documents concerning any settlements, releases, waivers, closure, or any other
  resolutions of any allegations of inappropriate conduct with children, against any of the
  persons mentioned in Request No. 18 above, whether such resolution of allegations was
  made with or without litigation. Plaintiff says he will settle for a generic chart (with no
  identifying, confidential information) detailing settlement of child sex abuse claims,
  where the abuse occurred between 1950 and 1972. The Church is ordered to produce a
  generic chart detailing settlement of sex abuse claims, where the abuse occurred between
  1950 and 1972 and either (1 ) occurred in a scouting context, or (2) was perpetrated by a
  person who, at the time of the abuse, had some affiliation with the scouting program even if
  the abuse itself did not occur as part of a scouting activity.

  This request asks for:

  All petitions or complaints from lawsuits filed against the LDS Church or any LDS Church
  related entities thatcontain allegations of sexual child abuse occurring during the time period
  1950-1 972. The Church is ordered to produce complaints (regardless of when filed) where
  the a minor plaintiff alleges sexual abuse between 1950 and 1972 that either (1) occurred in
  a scouting context, or (2) was perpetrated by a person who, at the time of the abuse, had
  some affiliation with the scouting program even if the abuse itself did not occur as part of a
  scouting activity. Request No. 23 - IV Files

  3. Request No. 23 asks for "[a]ll documents concerning the Boy Scouts of America's Red
  Files, Confidential Files, or Ineligible Volunteer Files." The Church says it did not find out
  about the IV files until "well after" the 1950 to 1972 time period. Plaintiff, however, wants
  any documents - created at any time - that show how the Boy Scouts and the Church
  shared knowledge of child sex abuse problems within their organizations. Plaintiff's motion
  on this request is denied. If plaintiff is trying to prove the LDS church had a duty to warn him
  about the dangers of pedophiles in scouting, the church's knowledge of the IV files in the
  years leading up to and during his scouting activities is relevant. But if the LDS found out
  about these files "well after" that time frame, this does not speak to the church's then-
  current knowledge of pedophiles using scouts to access and molest young boys.

  4. Request No. 25 - Depositions

  Request No. 25 asks for:

  All deposition transcripts and videos of deposition testimony given by any agent, official,
  representative, or leader of the LDS Church related to lawsuits alleging sexual abuse.

  This request again raises the issue of whether sex abuse cases outside the scouting
  context are relevant, as the Church has offered toproduce deposition transcripts of church
  "leaders and agents related to claims of abuse in scouting during the 1950-72 time period."
  The Court will therefore deny plaintiffs motion, although the Court will order the Church to
  follow through on its offer to produce documents and will further broaden the scope of
  responsive documents to include claims where a minor plaintiff alleged sex abuse that
  either (1) occurred in a scouting context, or (2) was perpetrated by a person who, at the
  time of the abuse, had some affiliation with the scouting program even if the abuse itself did
  not occur as part of a scouting activity.

  ORDER

  IT IS ORDERED:

  1 . Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Production of Documents by the Boy Scouts of America (Dkt.
  160) is GRANTED in part, and DENIED in part, as explained above.

  2. The Boy Scout's Motion for a Protective Order (Dkt. 166) is DENIED, as the Boy Scouts
  sought an order denying any discovery of the perversion files. Nonetheless, as explained in
  the body of this decision, the Court is ordering the Boy Scouts to produce perversion files
  subject to a protective order. The parties are ordered to meet and confer in an effort to draft
  a mutually acceptable proposed order. If necessary, the Court's law clerk, Marci Smith (208-
  334-9019), is available to assist in this effort.

  3. Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Production of Documents from the LDS Church (Dkt. 163) is
  GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, as explained above.

  4. The LDS Church Defendants' Motion for a Protective Order (Dkt. 170) is GRANTED in
  part, and DENIED in part, consistent with the rulings made above. Further, to the extent
  plaintiff originally sought to compel production of church membership and disciplinary
  records, the motion is DEEMED MOOT.

  5. The parties are further ordered to meet and confer as to the timing of any document
  productions ordered herein. The Court's law clerk is available to assist in informally
  resolving disputes regarding the timing of these productions. Defendants should be aware,
  however, that the Court will err in favor of compelling a speedy production.”

  DOE V CORP. OF THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF
  LATTER-DAY SAINTS IDAHO JUN 7 2013.PDF

  Honorable B. Lynn Winmill

  https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-corp-of-the-presidina-bishop-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-

  of-latter-dav-saints-1

  DOE V.CORP. OF THE PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF
  LATTER-DAY SAINTS Idaho Jun 7 2013.pdf