Former Iowa Boy Scout’s sexual abuse lawsuit settled

A lawsuit alleging that a West Des Moines Boy Scout leader abused a scout in the 1970s has been dismissed ahead of a trial that was set to begin in February.

West Des Moines attorney Patrick Hopkins on Friday filed a notice dismissing the lawsuit on behalf of his anonymous client. The lawsuit claimed Hopkins’ client was abused by Troop 202 leader Kenneth L. Newell. Newell, who now lives in Cedar Rapids, has not been criminally charged.

Hopkins said he could not discuss the lawsuit with a reporter. Hopkins held a press conference in January 2013 when he and another attorney filed the lawsuit. Hopkins told reporters at the conference that he planned to press the Boy Scouts to release more information about past sexual abuse cases.

“I can’t really discuss it,” Hopkins said on Tuesday. “I’d like to, but I just can’t.”

The lawsuit named Newell, Boy Scouts of America and the Mid-Iowa Council as defendants. Mid-Iowa Council Scout Executive Bob Hopper said Tuesday that a settlement was reached with the plaintiff.

The lawsuit was handled through the organization’s national office and Hopper did not know the details of the settlement, he said. A representative from the Boy Scouts public relations team did not immediately respond to a reporter’s email.

“Certainly we’re glad that it has come to a conclusion, and we hope it was a fair conclusion for everybody,” Hopper said.

The lawsuit claimed that Hopkins’ client was a central Iowa man in his late 40s who suffered permanent psychological damage because of the abuse he suffered when he was a scout in the 1970s. The lawsuit claimed the Boy Scouts failed to supervise Newell and that the organization had a pattern of failing to stop abuse.

The Boy Scouts denied the claims of sexual assault and negligence spelled out in the lawsuit.

Both the Boy Scouts and Hopkins were preparing for the civil trial, which was scheduled to begin on Feb. 2. Attorneys for the Boy Scouts intended to call at least three experts to testify, including Dr. Daniel Tranel, a University of Iowa neuroscience professor who did a psychological evaluation of the plaintiff, according to a list of witnesses filed in October.

Portland Ore. attorney Kelly Clark was also involved in the lawsuit alongside Hopkins. In 2012, Clark was involved in a case that led the Boy Scouts to release the so-called “perversion files.” The 14,500-page collection detailed reports that the Boys Scouts had taken of suspected pedophiles in the organization.