FORMER BERKELY SEA SCOUTS SUE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA AND EUGENE
EVANS FOR SEXUAL MOLESTATION
Oakland, CA. March 4, 2009
The Lawsuit
The law firm of Winer & McKenna, LLP of Oakland, California
has filed a lawsuit in Alameda County, California on behalf of three
former Berkeley Sea Scouts, who allegedly were sexually molested by
their Sea Scout Leader, Eugene Evans.
The plaintiffs, whose real names are left out of the complaint to
protect their privacy, are referred to as Roe I, Roe II and Roe III.
They allege that they were molested by Eugene Evans at various times
between 2001 and 2004 while they were Sea Scout members serving on the
SSS Farallon, which was docked in the Berkeley Marina. The complaint
includes allegations of genital touching; touching of the buttocks and
attempts at oral copulation.
Prior Criminal Case
Evans has already been criminally prosecuted and sentenced to six
years in prison on September 16, 2008 for molesting two Sea Scout boys.
As part of the criminal sentencing proceeding, Judge Morris Jacobsen
asked Evans in Alameda Superior Court if he was guilty of the charges
against him and Evans said, “yes, your Honor.”
The Complaint
The complaint alleges that the Boy Scouts of America negligently
supervised Evans and failed to provide the Sea Scouts and their parents
with written and video material that the Boy Scouts utilize to warn
scouts and their families of the risks of molestation. The complaint
alleges that Boy Scouts knew they have a significant problem with sexual
molestation by troop leaders, yet they did little or nothing to
supervise Evans or make sure the scouts were safe.
Further, there are allegations that Evans would frequently make racist
and homophobic comments to the scouts and would frequently expose the
scouts to pornography.
Winer & McKenna partners, John Winer and Alexis
McKenna, will be litigating this case together.
Quotes from Attorneys and Plaintiffs
John Winer states:
There is an indication in the criminal case that Evans has been getting
away with molesting teenage scouts for as long as thirty years. How
could the Boy Scouts of America let this happen?
The fact that these three young men were willing to come forward shows
courage on their part and they stopped Evans from having life time
access through the Boy Scouts of America to young and vulnerable boys
that he could molest.
Hopefully this lawsuit will be a wake-up call to the Boy Scouts of
America to make sure that their own procedures to prevent molestation
are followed and their Scout Leaders are closely supervised to prevent
the serious physical and emotional harm that comes from child
molestation.
Alexis McKenna states:
It appears that Evans was a master at targeting and sexually
exploiting vulnerable adolescent boys. Shame on the Boy Scouts of
America for allowing Evans unfettered access to these boys and not
protecting them from a predator like Evans.
Parents put their kids in scouting activities thinking it will be a
positive, growing experience for them. They trust the scout leaders with
their children. I can only hope that this case will show Boy Scouts of
America how they have not only failed to live up to this trust, but
allowed it to be shockingly abused by one of its scout leaders.
Roe I states:
I came forward because I didn’t want anyone else to go through
something like that. As I grew up, I realized that what had happened
wasn’t going to be okay with me and if I didn’t do anything, I was
afraid that I could end up like him. It was something I had to do.
Roe II states:
I came forward because I wanted to bring Eugene Evans to justice. It
is really to stop him from hurting more people. As for this case, I find
the Boy Scouts to be primarily responsible for what happened. Their
system put in place to prevent sexual abuse has never worked and is in
need of serious reform. Without measures that actually stop sexual abuse
like mine from happening, predators within the Scouts will continue to
have their way.
Copy of the Civil Complaint
A copy of the Complaint is attached to this release.
Prior Media
The arrest and criminal proceedings in this case have already
received media attention. Please see the following websites:
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-12-04/article/2864?headline=Berkeley-Sea-Scout-Skipper-Charged-with
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-09-18/article/31124?headline=Berkeley-Sea-Scouts-Leader-Gets-6-Years-for
www.cbs5.com/crime/berkeley.scout.molest.2.603072.html
www.dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=27124
www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-07-10/article/30576?headline=Berkeley-Sea-Scout-Gets-Six-Years-for-Child...
www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/us/07scoutmaster.html
www.bsalegal.org/bsa-legal-blawg-200.asp?i=30
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/12/06/BACLTONGF.DTL&o-0
The Law Firm
Winer & McKenna specializes in catastrophic physical,
psychological injury and wrongful death and employment harassment and
discrimination cases.
The firm handles a significant number of wrongful death, catastrophic
injury, traumatic brain injury, elder abuse, sexual abuse and
harassment, post traumatic stress disorder, psychotherapist abuse, and
insurance bad faith/coverage cases.
The Firm’s main office is in Oakland, California, but it also
maintains offices in San Francisco and Woodland Hills, CA.
Mr. Winer and Ms. McKenna were finalists for California Consumer
Attorney of the Year and, Mr. Winer has been officially recognized as
one of the top attorneys in Northern California. He has been chosen as a
Super Lawyer for three consecutive years.
Mr. Winer, Ms. McKenna and Roe I and Roe II will be available for
interviews.
The Contacts
Contacts: John Winer
john@wmdattorneys.com
Alexis McKenna
alexis@wmdattorneys.com
Tel.: (510) 433-1000
Fax: (510) 433-1001
After hours leave a message in our voice mail per directions when you
call and we will check our messages frequently.
Lake Merritt Plaza
1999 Harrison Street, Suite 600
Oakland, CA 94612
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