Shocking Revelation: Decades of Abuse Hidden Within Boy Scouts' Law Enforcement Program
The Boy Scouts of America’s Law Enforcement Explorer program is a collaboration between the organization and local law enforcement agencies. The initiative, which began in 1973, aims to spark an interest in law enforcement among Boy and Girl Scouts.
However, a recent report from the Marshall Project exposed a darker side of the program. Reporters discovered many instances of officers involved with the program sexually abusing some of the children they were tasked with mentoring.
In a most tragic turn of events, 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore took her own life in 2021. She was newly pregnant at the time. It was later revealed that after she became a part of the Explorer program at 13 years old, she was abused over the next decade by three officers.
The last known person to see Sandra Birchmore alive was a police officer.
He stopped by her apartment days before the elementary school teacher’s aide, 23 years old and newly pregnant, was found dead in February 2021. The medical examiner later ruled her death a suicide.
The officer worked for the Stoughton Police Department, near Boston, where he first met Birchmore about a decade earlier through the agency’s Explorer post — part of a youth mentorship program run by local departments across the country.
He acknowledged having sex with her when she was 15, according to a court ruling citing the officer’s text messages. That document indicates that his twin brother — also an officer and Explorer mentor — and a third Stoughton officer, a veteran who ran the program, eventually had sex with her, too.
These assertions, disclosed in an internal police investigative report and through an ongoing lawsuit filed by Birchmore’s family, have sparked demonstrations and an online petition asking for further investigation into her death. The three men, who did not respond to requests for comment, have denied any wrongdoing and have not been charged with a crime.
The report also notes that her case “is among at least 194 allegations that law enforcement personnel, mostly policemen, have groomed, sexually abused or engaged in inappropriate behavior with Explorers since 1974.”
The Marshal Project’s investigation “found at least 14 departments, among 111 agencies, that had a history of repeated allegations.” It appears the Boy Scouts, which laid out guidelines for Explorer posts, did not take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of the young people participating in the program by checking to see of officers were following the guidelines.
However, it did stress that when they become aware that one of its leaders has harmed a child, “we will take appropriate measures, including removing that leader, and work to ensure that offenders are held accountable.”
Reporters working with the Marshall Project unearthed child sexual assault allegations in big and small departments across the nation.
In Connecticut, an officer first tried to ply a 17-year-old Explorer with compliments and a silver bracelet. After her repeated rejections, he took her into a vacant house, handcuffed her and sexually assaulted her, according to police records and her lawsuit. In South Miami, police records show a detective offered to teach teenagers about sex before he assaulted them — so often that some older Explorers warned new recruits against being alone with him. And in Porterville, California, a sergeant who led his department’s Explorer program took a 17-year-old alone on ride-alongs and complained about his marriage before having sex with her, according to a now-settled lawsuit.
Sexual assault has been a pressing issue in the Boy Scouts of America and among many law enforcement agencies. Just recently, the Justice Department convicted a former Boy Scout leader for covertly filming young boys in restrooms.
While some of the officers involved in the cases the Marshall Project explored were held accountable, many others were never charged or received lighter sentences.
In at least 19 cases, officers accused of abuse or inappropriate behavior were reprimanded or suspended but kept their jobs. In other instances, officers relinquished their law enforcement certifications in plea deals to avoid criminal charges.
Sometimes, it took years for an officer to face repercussions.
Unfortunately, it appears that in many of these cases, there were no policies or measures to serve as guardrails to prevent abuse from occurring. Some agencies responded to reports of sexual abuse within their ranks by implementing rules that prevented officers and children from being alone for a significant period of time. However, it appears more work must be done to ensure that Boy Scouts who are interested in a career in law enforcement are protected from predators.