Boy Scouts of America is proposing to pay $220 million toward a trust to compensate tens of thousands of former members who say they were abused during their time as scouts.
Another $300 million may come from a voluntary contribution from local councils, the Boy Scouts said in court documents filed Monday — though the local organizations have given no formal commitment, USA Today reported.
The contributions would include a collection of Norman Rockwell paintings, certain oil and gas interests, and the organization's excess cash above a $75 million minimum, according to Fox Business.
The monetary offer is a fraction of the $1 billion of the organization's estimated value and a sliver of the value of its subsidiaries, including local councils as well as various trusts and endowments, USA Today reported, estimating the assets could exceed $3.7 billion.
The Irving, Texas-based organization sought bankruptcy protection last February in an effort to halt hundreds of individual lawsuits and create a compensation fund for men who were molested as youngsters decades ago by scoutmasters or other leaders.
Since then, more than 95,000 sexual abuse claims have been filed.
The proposed Boy Scouts settlement would amount to about $6,000 per claimant, USA Today reported.
According to Fox Business, Chapter 11 plan calls for protecting the Boy Scouts' four flagship high-adventure camps — the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, Northern Tier in Minnesota and Canada, the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia, and the Sea Base in Florida.
Paul Mones, an attorney representing hundreds of former scouts, called the plan “woefully and tragically inadequate.”
“The problem is that the Boy Scouts are not willing to dig deep enough for the deep pain they caused,” he said.
“They are shifting the responsibility to the insurance companies, creating a situation for the survivors to engage in obviously protracted litigation to obtain the just compensation they deserve,” Mones added. “The BSA basically wants to walk away unscathed from this.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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