Garth David Snively admitted sexually abusing up to 20 young boys 11 years ago, and now one of his victims wants him and the Boy Scouts of America to pay.
The victim, now 19, filed a civil lawsuit this week in Snohomish County Superior Court seeking unspecified damages for emotional distress.
The lawsuit alleges that the Boy Scouts allowed Snively to serve as an adult leader of the Cub Scout pack that the victim joined in 1992.
The lawsuit named the victim as “John Doe,” and the suit seeks a court order allowing him to remain anonymous to protect his privacy.
Besides the Boy Scouts of America organization, the group now called the Mount Baker Council of the Scouts is named as a defendant. At the time of the abuse, Snohomish County and part of Whidbey Island were known as the Evergreen Council, Mount Baker Council scout executive Duane Rhodes said.
At his sentencing in 1994, Snively admitted a lifetime of sexually abusing young boys, some of whom he made dress in diapers. He said he encountered some of the victims through church groups and such organizations as the Cub Scouts and Big Brothers.
He was convicted of two counts of first-degree child molestation and one count of indecent liberties.
He was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison, and would be released soon except for a civil commitment proceeding launched last year by the state Attorney General’s Office.
The attorney general in 2003 filed a lawsuit seeking civil commitment of Snively as a dangerous sex predator. The attorney general alleges that Snively is a pedophile, is sexually attracted to young males and should be held indefinitely for treatment at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island.
In court papers, the attorney general has alleged that Snively’s mental illnesses “cause him to have serious difficulty in controlling his dangerous behavior and make him likely to engage in predatory acts of violence unless confined to a secure facility.”
He is currently being held at McNeil Island, according to court documents. His civil commitment trial is scheduled to start in December.
In a complaint filed by Seattle lawyer Stephen Connor, the victim alleges that Boy Scout officials knew or should have known of Snively’s “propensities to abuse children.” In the 1970s, Snively was banished from Big Brothers after complaints of improper touching of a boy, the complaint alleges.
In the meantime, scout executive Rhodes said he can’t comment on the recently filed lawsuit by the abused victim but expects the national office will be involved in defending the local council.
“Any youth-serving organization tends to be a magnet for people who seek to prey on children,” Rhodes said. “Part of being a Boy Scout council is being vigilant.”
To guard against predators being involved with youths, the scouts have implemented a Youth Protection Program, but Rhodes doesn’t know if it was in place when Snively was a Cub Scout leader.
The program introduces safeguards, such as requiring at least two adults to accompany children on activities.
Also, adult leaders are required to undergo a national background check. Community organizations that sponsor troops or packs also always approve the adults who lead activities.
“The fundamental problem is there is no common profile for child abuse,” Rhodes said. “The whole idea is we want to create as many barriers as we can between kids in scouting and people who might seek to prey on them.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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