People with 'sexual interest in children' in scouting leadership for decades
People with a "sexual interest in children" dominated the leadership of the Irish scouting movement for decades and were protected by a culture of "cover up" and cronyism.
In a damning report into the sexual abuse of children in the movement, child protection consultant Ian Elliott said there "was cover up and there was a failure to report" when instances of sexual abuse occurred and that abusers were able to protect each other within the organisation and even facilitate abuse for each other.
"Listening to the oral evidence in this case from the volunteer involved, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the scouting body involved, was a seriously dysfunctional organisation with sex offenders dominating the leadership, for decades," said the report. "Even those national officers against whom we have no allegations, we do have evidence that some of them failed to protect children and young people in the face of clear risk. Indeed, in some instances they actively suppressed the reporting of concerns so as not to cause disturbance to the system."
Mr Elliott even reveals that during his probe, attempts were made "to discredit my work as a way of deflecting attention away from my recommendation that senior volunteers should be held accountable for their actions".
His investigation found that when sex offenders rose to the top level of the legacy organisations with scouting, the structure allowed them to protect each other: "There is evidence to suggest they protected and supported each other, preventing any attempts to hold an alleged offender accountable for their actions, if they were part of their group."
He heard evidence from volunteers who were involved at the time, that when they tried to report abuse they were told to forget it and leave it alone or were met with anger "and were placed under pressure to stay quiet".
Mr Elliott said “cronyism thrived and remained a significant problem in scouting up to and including the reviewer’s involvement with Scouting Ireland" while there was "an almost complete absence of any concern for the young people that were abused".
Senior volunteers within the movement who were thought to be sex offenders actively shared information with each other about their abuse and took steps "to facilitate that abuse for each other".
"Individuals, who were suspected or known to be sex offenders, gained positions of power and became largely impregnable," said the report.
Mr Elliott said documentation relevant to his investigation and “stored inappropriately in garages, attics, and sheds, across the country” of senior volunteers may well have been destroyed.
He said one senior volunteer, who is the subject of credible allegations of abuse "over an extended period" but is now deceased, stood out. He stored information in his home which related to several abuse claims.
Mr Elliott identified clear mismanagement and a gross failure to respond to risk: “Individuals who were known to have abused young people, were not held to account consistently and often remained in scouting but with a different group.
“Volunteers often mismanaged these situations and there were occasions when individuals tried to interfere with any attempt to address alleged abuse, to protect a suspected offender."
Scouting Ireland has issued an “Organisational Apology” to victims and survivors of sexual abuse in scouting who were failed.
Victim support group One in Four said Mr Elliott has made many strong recommendations for actions which will be necessary to transform Scouting Ireland into a youth organisation where children will be safe.
"It is important that those actions should be monitored by a team of independent experts on an ongoing basis," it said.
