Former West Des Moines Boy Scout Leader, Mid-Iowa Council Named in Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

A former West Des Moines Boy Scouts of America Scout leader has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a member of Troop No. 202 in the late 1970s.

Attorneys representing the plaintiff, who lives in Iowa, said at a news conference that Kenneth L. Newell, the former Scout leader, as well as Mid-Iowa Council of Boy Scouts of America have been named as defendants, KCCI-TV reported.

The plaintiff, now 49, was about 12 when the alleged abuse occurred. The lawsuit alleges sexual abuse, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and fraud.

According to attorney Patrick Hopkins, the man came forward after the sexual abuse scandal involving former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, the Associated Press reported.

"That case gave a lot of people time to reflect and time to gird themselves and get their inner strength to maybe go forward," Hopkins said. "It has given voice to a number of people who have searched for a long time to attempt to gain that power."

The lawsuit, filed in Polk County District Court, claims that Boy Scout officials knew they had “a serious problem with pedophiles in Scouting and failed to warn Scouts, their parents and local troups about the dangers of abuse in Scouting,” the television station reported.

Attorneys Hopkins of West Des Moines and Kelly Clark of Portland are representing the plaintiff. Hopkins reportedly talked to other former central Iowa Boy Scouts who said they had been sexually abused, but they have not filed legal action.

In 2012, Clark won a high profile ruling in the Oregon Supreme Court in which the Boy Scouts were ordered to release "perversion files," a 14,500-page collection of reports on confirmed and suspected molesters involved in scouting over the past century, the Des Moines Register reported.

Mid-Iowa Council CEO Bob Hopper told KCCI the organization is “devastated that something happened to a young man or could have happened to a young man.”

He said that he has a “tough time” accepting the broader allegations that the Scouting organization was negligent or covered up allegations of sexual abuse.

“We are going to adress it in the most forthright way we can,” he said.

Newell reportedly lives in Cedar Rapids now.