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The New York Times
national
Scout Leader in
California Accused of Abuse
By CAROLYN MARSHALL,
nytimes.com on the Web, December 7, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 6 — A
scout leader who once sued the City of Berkeley for challenging a national Boy
Scout ban on members who are gay or atheist has been arrested on felony charges
that for at least five years he sexually abused young males in the troops he
led.
Sgt. Mary Kusmiss of the Berkeley police said the scout leader, Eugene A. Evans,
64, a retired high school teacher and for 35 years leader of the Berkeley Sea
Scouts, was arrested at his home in nearby Kensington on Tuesday after
investigators identified four youths, ages 13 to 17, who said they had been
sexually abused by him.
Sergeant Kusmiss said the police began an investigation after a boy and his
mother came to them with accusations on Nov. 14.
Mr. Evans is scheduled to appear in Alameda County Superior Court on Friday to
enter a plea on 19 felony counts of sexual assault.
Mr. Evans’s lawyer, Philip Schnayerson, said Thursday that “hundreds” of former
scouts and friends had called to voice support.
“There have been no complaints of improper or criminal behavior in any of the
communities he has lived in,” Mr. Schnayerson said of his client.
Mr. Evans sued the city in his role as a leader of the Sea Scouts, an affiliate
program of the Boy Scouts. The city, after providing free berthing for a
Sea Scouts boat for 60 years, said in 1998 that a Boy Scout policy barring gay
scouts and atheists violated Berkeley’s rules against discrimination. The
city said the Scouts would have to leave the berth or pay $500 a month rent.
Mr. Evans sued for discrimination and for violating the Scouts’ First Amendment
rights. The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of Berkeley.
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