Thousands of US Boy Scout leaders accused of sexually abusing minors: Attorney

A file photo of Boy Scouts carrying US flags as they prepare to march in a parade in downtown Seattle. (By AP)

Thousands of Boy Scout leaders in the United States are facing allegations of sexual abuse after confidential files revealed that more than 12,000 minors have fallen victim to the organization’s pedophile predators since the 1940s.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents the former scouts claiming they had been sexually abused, said on Tuesday that there were at least 7,819 suspected perpetrators and 12,254 victims in the “perversion files” related to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) between 1944 and 2016.

"That is a number not known before today or ever revealed by the Boy Scouts of America," Anderson said during a press conference in New York.

The US attorney denounced the BSA as a system of denial and cover-ups, claiming that the organization has files on child abusers within its ranks dating back to the 1940s and yet to be disclosed.

"For many, many years there's been an excavation of what are called the 'perversion files' — those are files held and hoarded at the Boy Scouts of America headquarters," Anderson said.

“Those 'perversion files' that they've had reflect that they have removed thousands of offenders of childhood sexual abuse over the years and they've kept that in files secretly," he added.