Former Boy Scouts seeking $15 million in sex abuse case (Austin)

Three men are seeking $15 million in damages from the regional council of the Boy Scouts of America, alleging that the organization failed to investigate a longtime troop leader who sexually abused them as children — even after a parent reported his behavior.

Martin E. Turner, the volunteer who abused the victims, and his wife, Elizabeth Turner, also are defendants in the civil trial, which began this week in Travis County district court and is expected to last through next week. A jury of nine women and three men will determine the verdict.

Turner, a registered Scout leader from 1980 until the time of his arrest in 2006, pleaded guilty in 2008 to two counts of indecency with a child and one count of attempted indecency with a child, according to court and Boy Scout records. Travis County District Judge Wilford Flowers sentenced him to five years in prison and 10 years’ deferred adjudication, a type of probation.

On the witness stand Friday, one of the plaintiffs — all of whom are in their 20s — testified that the punishment was a slap in the face and a direct insult to his family. He said Turner molested him multiple times from when he was 11 until he went off to college. Turner also molested his two brothers, said the young man, whose name is being withheld because the American-Statesman does not publish the names of sexual abuse victims.

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/former-boy-scouts-seeking-15-million-in-sex-abuse-/nWfDh/ .