Crime & Safety

Peninsula Men Among Peninsula Boy Scout Leaders Accused of Abuse

As part of the settlement in a multi-million-dollar sex abuse case, 'perversion' files containing information on thousands of possible crimes were released Thursday.

At least eight cases of possible sexual abuse by Peninsula Boy Scout troop leaders and volunteers are part of the organization's so-called "perversion" files released Thursday to the public.

For decades, the Boy Scouts of America kept the files as a way to keep volunteers suspected of inappropriate sexual behavior away from children. The cases were not shared with parents or police.

The files became public Thursday as part of an $18.5-million settlement between the Boy Scouts and a victim.

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Specific details and reports - including names of the accused - were only released in two of the cases, however.

The names and details of the other six cases are sealed, many of them hidden from police and even parents and only discovered through lawsuits. They are part of a database created through years of reporting at the Los Angeles Times.

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The Los Angeles Times has created a list of the cases by year, city, state and troop number. The newspaper's list includes the time period covered by today's release - 1965 to 1985 - but also other accusations and documents gathered and released in various court cases.

Here is a list of the eight Peninsula cases, according to the Times' files.

According to the Times, the accused are identified below by name when files are available and by a unique number otherwise. If the same person is associated with more than one troop or unit, that name or number is repeated. Dates mark when the Boy Scouts created the file, not when the incidents are alleged to have occurred.

 

Redwood City:

1. Ronald S. Wentworth, 1972, Troop #146

2. ID #1612, 1987, Troop #199

 

San Mateo:

1. Robert Wong, 1989, Troop #18

2. ID #607, 1990, Troop #31


Palo Alto:

1. ID #2799, 1998, Troop #31

2. ID #1418, 1988, #152

 

Pacifica:

1. ID #126, 1988, Troop #264

 


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