Former Oregon Boy Scouts file $14 million lawsuit claiming sex abuse

PORTLAND – Two men have filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America and its local branch for $7 million each, claiming they were sexually abused by a former scout leader in Milwaukie in the 1970s.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported the lawsuit accusing the Scouts and its local branch, Cascade Pacific Council, of negligence, fraud, sexual battery of a child and intentional infliction of emotional distress was filed Wednesday.

The lawsuit says Robert Charles Philpott was enabled to groom and abuse the former scouts and troop mates, now in their 50s, when Philpott was a troop leader between at least 1970 and 1972.

Philpott was convicted of sexual abuse in Clackamas County in 1996 for abusing a 14-year-old boy.

The Boy Scouts of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.