Boy Scouts Executive Arrested on Sexual Battery, Molestation Charges

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https://www.newsweek.com/boy-scouts-exe ... ce-1669814


Boy Scouts Executive Arrested on Sexual Battery, Molestation Charges



An executive with Boy Scouts of America was arrested in Florida on Friday after multiple allegations of child sexual abuse came to light.



John Bruce Larsen, 52, was taken into police custody in Volusia County and charged with two counts of sexual battery on a child less than 12 years of age, two counts of sexual battery on a child older than 12 but younger than 18, and four counts of lewd molestation for children under 12. He previously served as a district executive for the Boy Scouts' Central Florida chapter.

Larsen is accused of sexually abusing at least three underage boys over an undetermined period of time. The allegations were relayed to local detectives in interviews carried out with the boys, according to an arrest report obtained by local news outlet WESH. Due to the heavily redacted content of the report, it is unknown if any of the victims were Boy Scouts.



Two of the victims are reported to be siblings. The boys' mother told detectives how one of her sons said Larsen had been sexually abusing him since he was 8 years old. It is unknown at this time what age any of the victims are now. Her other son also said that Larsen had touched him inappropriately while he was visiting Larsen's home.



The third victim is reported to be a friend of the other two and told detectives that Larsen had interacted with him in inappropriate ways that made him feel uncomfortable. When the boy asked Larsen to stop, he ignored the request and kept going.



Larsen's Boy Scouts of America chapter condemned his actions and said that he is no longer involved with the group.

"The actions alleged to have been committed by John Larsen are reprehensible and opposed to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands," Eric Magendatz, CEO of the Boy Scouts of America's Central Florida Council, wrote in the statement. "Upon learning of these allegations and his arrest, we took immediate action to prohibit him from participation in Scouting."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America



The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in 1910, and since then, about 110 million Americans have participated in BSA programs. BSA is part of the international Scout Movement and became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.

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