It takes a village to raise a child. We accept this as fact. The essence of the meaning is that kids learn from their environment, and the more situations they are exposed to, the better equipped they will be to handle them once they're adults. To achieve this, we put our trust in institutions, institutions like our community schools, religious organizations, and youth organizations.

We have all heard stories of the creep who watched kids on playgrounds, at malls, or any public place.  Parents are keen to this behavior and protect at all costs. Sexual offenders with pedophilia have no limits, and underestimating their desire, can prove to be tragic. They pose as model citizens cloaking themselves in kindness and authority. They groom their community, parents, and children alike.

Imagine for a moment, tough as that may be, what the perfect environment would look like for a sexual offender. It would be a secluded place away from parents, like the woods or a camp. A place where life skills are taught to build trust, to gain access, to reduce suspicion, to groom. Now I know what you're thinking, "there is no way I would let a child of mine go to such a place with someone I don't trust." For those of you well versed in true crime, I know that as I described the perfect environment to you, your Spidey sense went off, and alarm bells were blazing. I was shocked to find out that the ideal environment exists, not only in our nightmares but also nestled within a historic institution, hidden in plain sight, one known for its oath.

In today's episode, we will examine one of the largest cases in history of documented sexual abuse that went unreported. We are going to look at how one of the world's most respected and trusted youth organizations became a beacon for pedophiles. We are going to look at how they documented the sexual abuse of their scouts, and why it was never reported to authorities, let alone parents. Today's episode will prompt you to reassess the confidence you place in trusted community organizations.

Episode Sources and Music can be found here: https://crimewavepodcast.com/the-oath