Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Friday, April 19, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Former Explorer Scouts’ Sex Abuse Claims Against Los Angeles Are Time-Barred

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The California Supreme Court ruled that it was too late for two men in their 40s to sue Los Angeles and the Boy Scouts of America for allegedly allowing a police officer to sexually abuse them while they were teenagers.

They claimed Officer David Kalish plied them with alcohol and molested them while they were in the Los Angeles Department Explorer Scout Program in the 1970s. Kalish allegedly pressured them to make pornographic movies for his friend, who specialized in making porn films featuring boys.

The law requires victims to sue before they turn 26, unless they can prove that the defendant "knew or had reason to know, or was otherwise on notice" about any illegal sexual conduct of its employees or representatives and failed to act. The court affirmed dismissal of the claims, saying the law requires "more specific allegations than were made by the plaintiffs in this case." See ruling in Does v. Los Angeles.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...