N.J. man alleges Boy Scouts leader molested him as a child. His lawsuit charges organization is ‘hypocritical’ – NJ.com

When Richard Halvorson joined the Boy Scouts of America in the 1980s, he raised his right hand and swore an oath of integrity and honor.

To reach one of the scouts’ ranks, tenderfoot, he needed to receive a gold physical fitness pin. Halvorson did not have to log any extra exercises for the pin, he got it by going to the bathroom with adult scout leader Angelo Dellomo, who sexually abused him.

Nearly forty years later, Halvorson, now 47, is suing the national organization, saying they’re “hypocritical” of their oath.

In a lawsuit filed Monday, Halvorson alleges the organization didn’t do enough to stop child molestation and sex abuse even after complaints were made against scout leaders.

Dellomo’s name is included in the list of 52 former Boy Scout leaders from New Jersey who allegedly sexually abused boys, made public on April 23 by Minnesota-based attorney Jeff Anderson. The leaders named in Boy Scouts documents, officially called the list “Ineligible Volunteer Files,” were first revealed in 2012.

The names were included in the organizations so-called “perversion files” and were revisited after a woman testified in court that there were more than 7,000 accused child sex abusers. There are 12,254 victims in those files, though it is unknown how many are from New Jersey, the firm said.

Halvorson belonged to Boy Scout Troop 6 in Atlantic County and was 10 or 11 years old when Dellomo sexually abused him, according to the lawsuit.

In 1982, Halvorson alleges Dellomo brought him to the bathroom and forced him to do sexual acts. Dellomo had at least two other complaints filed against him, after Halvorson’s incident, before the Boy Scouts severed ties with him in 1987.

“These guys kept a secret, secret’s out,” Halvorson said of the organization’s lack of transparency. “This is going to help victims come forward.”

In Dellomo’s “ineligible volunteer file,” parents said the man forced boys to perform “balance exercises…done in the nude with a blind fold over their eyes, legs spread apart and twisting from side to side” and “stand on the toilet, arch their back, put their head against the wall, put their hands behind their back and take 75 deep breaths,” according to a letter dated December 1, 1986.

Following those exercises, when the children were fully clothed again, he would ask two children to get another child and hold them down while Dellomo “gave them a ‘beard rub’ on their bare stomach and feet.”

When Halvorson came forward in 2013 to local authorities and attorneys, nothing could be done due to New Jersey’s “archaic statute of limitations,” Greg Gianforcaro, one of three attorneys representing Halvorson, said.

“I’m embarrassed by this, but thankfully that’s why we have a bill on the governor’s desk right now,” Gianforcaro said.

State legislators passed a bill in March that would allow sexual assault victims to bring a civil suit against an individual or institution, including non-profits, up until the age of 55 or seven years after they make “the discovery” connecting their emotional and psychological injury to their abuse.

Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to sign the bill.

The Boy Scouts of America issued a statement on April 22 saying they “care deeply about all victims of child sex abuse and sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting.”

“We believe victims, we support them, and we have paid for unlimited counseling by a provider of their choice,” the statement read. “Nothing is more important than the safety and protection of children in Scouting and we are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to abuse innocent children.”

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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