Local

Newly released records name former scout leaders in abuse allegations

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has obtained more confidential files kept by the Boy Scouts of America on volunteers from metro Atlanta accused of sexual abuse.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant got a hold of more than a dozen files on volunteers associated with the Boy Scouts in metro Atlanta.

They were among more than a thousand files used as evidence in a 1992 court case and published this week by the Los Angeles Times.

The 13 newly published files were among 1,200 once kept confidential on volunteers and employees dismissed nationwide for suspected sexual abuse between 1986 and 1991.

Among them, Diamant found a file on former scoutmaster James Ross, expelled by the scouts in 1987, and then resigned as a Cobb County police officer after a teenager accused Ross of fondling him on a camping trip.

Diamant stopped by Ross' last known address in northwest Atlanta but found only a vacant lot.

The phone number Diamant found for him worked, but he quickly hung up when Diamant called.

In another of the released cases, the scouts let Daniel Kennedy of Tucker go after a teenager came forward accusing Kennedy of molesting him on several out-of -state trips in the 1980s.

Documents show scout leaders reported the allegations to the DeKalb County district attorney.

When Diamant knocked on Kennedy's door Wednesday, no one answered.

In October, the Oregon Supreme Court unsealed hundreds of other secret files opened between 1965 and 1985.

And while the Scouts have faced intense scrutiny for keeping most of the allegations from the public and police, Atlanta area scouting leaders said things have changed in recent years.

"These files were decades old. It's hard to explain or understand what action and decisions were decades ago, but I can assure you that our protection policies are in full force," said Tracy Techau with the BSA Atlanta Area Council.

Of those named in the 13 files, three have moved out of state and three others have died.

Diamant has been searching through local court records and so far has not found any record of Ross or Kennedy ever being charged with a crime over the accusations outlined in those files.

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