# Boy Scout offical charged in child pornography case **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 29, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814 "2005-03-29T19:30:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/1 "2005-03-29T19:30:53Z")
[CNN story](http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/29/scouts.charges/index.html) Good thing they kept the homosexuals out of there :rolleyes: The depths of human hypocrisy never fail to amaze and sicken me. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/2 "2005-03-29T19:33:23Z")
He was only trying to get his photography merit badge. And BTK was just trying to get his knot tying merit badge. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/3 "2005-03-29T19:34:43Z")
Wow. I mean, I guess I expected it, but still. How much do you wanna bet that they’ll say he was a closet case? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/4 "2005-03-29T19:38:09Z")
Can anyone say they honestly didn’t see this coming? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/5 "2005-03-29T19:45:54Z")
That something would happen that would cause the Boy Scouts to be attacked, as an organization, on these boards? Gee, nobody could have predicted that. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/6 "2005-03-29T19:47:29Z")
Yeah, that’s exactly what I meant. :rolleyes: yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/7 "2005-03-29T19:56:45Z")
What he did was certainly bad, but I don’t see how you can blame the Scouts for it. When they learned he was under investigation, they put him on administrative leave, and he then resigned. The article also says that the Scouts cooperated fully with the authorities. So, what’s the problem? ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/8 "2005-03-29T19:58:34Z")
I don’t understand where hypocrisy comes into play. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/9 "2005-03-29T20:02:38Z")
Well, I do hope appropriate justice is imposed in Mr. Smith’s case. This seems to be a novel approach. Instead of judging organizations by the totality of their actions, in this case we’re invited to judge them by the failings of one individual. If we were to do that, I doubt any large organization would stand up to scrutiny. I could as easily characterize the Peace Corps as a bunch of child molesters based on [this one sad example.](http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/html/2004_06_24_obert.html) Doesn’t seem fair to me. If you have a problem with the Boy Scouts, I’m sure you can spell it out without hypocrite shopping, **Annie-Xmas**. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/10 "2005-03-29T20:05:52Z")
If the Boy Scouts were defending this man, then I could see charges of hypocrisy being levelled against the organization. But… > [@](#): > > Shields said the Boy Scouts are “shocked and dismayed” by Smith’s arrest, but the group has cooperated with investigators in the case. > > “We surrendered his work computer to authorities,” he said. So - exactly who is charged with being a hypocrite, here? Smith, himself? Yes, I grant you that, but I’d point out that most pedophiles, save those who are open and practicing, are hypocrites in much the same way. The organization doesn’t approve of pedophiles, and when discovering that a pedophile was discovered among the ranks of their former employees, they cooperated fully. They can’t fire him - he’s already no longer an employee. So where exactly is the hypocrisy? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/11 "2005-03-29T20:06:35Z")
What’s hypocritical? The BSA, as an organization, doesn’t allow homosexuals? I’m sure, as an organization, they don’t condone child pornography, either. That one of their members has been arrested with child porn might make him a hypocrite, sure, but I’ll bet it’s not BSA policy to surf kiddie porn. Would it be any less hypocritical if some liberal arts professor was busted with child porn, or the leader of a gay rights organization? Would you be so sure to assume that there are no people in either type of those positions who does not look at child porn? Would they be, or not be, a hypocrite if caught with the same material? I don’t think you are doing liberals any favors by playing the “conservatives who look at kiddie porn are hypocrites, so liberals who look at kiddie porn are\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_” card. People who look at kiddie porn are sick fucks, no matter what their political preference. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/12 "2005-03-29T20:07:49Z")
What a stupid OP. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/13 "2005-03-29T20:33:07Z")
If someone can find a cite that the BSA defended its ban on homosexuals because of a perceived/imaginary/unsubstantiated fear of child pornography, then there’d be some basis for charging “hypocrisy” (or at least “stupidity”) here. If not, not. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/14 "2005-03-29T20:54:14Z")
I believe the correct word was “Ironic”. It’s _ironic_ that the BSA instituted standards banning gays from voluntary positions due to their concerns about pedophiles, while headed by a person apparently not gay (we assume since he was the head of the institution) who was, in fact, a pedophile. When the original crapola arose about them banning gays, the point was made over and over that banning gays would not necessarily result in an automatic ban of pedophiles, since the two groups are not in fact, the same. That point seems to have been demonstrated. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/15 "2005-03-29T21:34:00Z")
I’ll admit that I don’t like the organization and I took my potshot with that in mind. It is good to see that they have at least some redeeming value in cooperating with authorities. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/16 "2005-03-29T22:58:36Z")
It’s this quote that gets me: > [@CNN](#): > > Smith’s lawyer, Jack Strickland, told the Associated Press said that his client is “not taking this well. I’ve got to tell you, this is a good man, and I would hate to see the entirety of his life and the good things he’s done defined by one incident.” He’s “not taking it well”? Boo-fucking-hoo. I guess he probably shouldn’t have downloaded kiddie porn! Doing an entire lifetime of good deeds does not grant you the privelege of doing something like this. It’s not like someone put a gun to his head. He’s supposed to be setting an example for young boys. The last thing he should be doing is downloading kiddie porn. Or maybe I’m the crazy one. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/17 "2005-03-29T23:18:01Z")
> [@wring](#): > > I believe the correct word was “Ironic”. > > It’s _ironic_ that the BSA instituted standards banning gays from voluntary positions due to their concerns about pedophiles, while headed by a person apparently not gay (we assume since he was the head of the institution) who was, in fact, a pedophile. Hold on a second. I’m not sure that they denied gays from participating in the organization because of pedophile concerns, I think it’s oriented around the religious basis ofthe organization. Remember, they don’t allow atheiests either because it’s a fundamentally religious organization. I was a Life Scout, and on the way to Eagle, I had some rather serious discussions with the Troop leadership about my religion. They all sort of knew that I wasn’t religious even though they didn’t know that I was actively an athiest, but it was made clear to me that to obtain my Eagle Scout was that I would indeed need to make a good-faith (no pun intended) foray into “finding religion” and produce basically a member of the clergy to vouch for my religious involvement. That’s part of the reason that I never went to Eagle scout. That said, this whole affair does indeed remind me a lot of the South Park where Big Gay Al gets kicked out of the Boy Scouts only to be replaced by a macho, straight pedophile, the case goes to the Supreme Court, and Big Gay Al comes back to deliver a rousing monologue about why the Boy Scouts, as a private organization, do indeed have the right to restrict their organization but they’re fools to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/18 "2005-03-29T23:20:12Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > What’s hypocritical? The BSA, as an organization, doesn’t allow homosexuals? Ok, time to build a time machine and go back in time to fire the founder of whatever British group it came from. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/19 "2005-03-29T23:24:39Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > Ok, time to build a time machine and go back in time to fire the founder of whatever British group it came from. [This guy](http://www.pinetreeweb.com/B-P.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814/20 "2005-03-29T23:31:18Z")
Got it. I have [Googled](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Robert+Baden-Powell%22+%2Bgay&btnG=Google+Search) his name +gay, and have found the following: > [@](#): > > [http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biob1/bade1.html](http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biob1/bade1.html) > No concrete evidence exists that Baden-Powell was gay (**he destroyed as much of his personal correspondence as possible before his death)**; however, several recent biographers, like Michael Rosenthal in The Character Factory: Baden-Powell’s Boy Scouts and the Imperatives of Empire (1984), argue that he was a repressed homosexual. > > Much of the evidence for Baden-Powell’s homosexuality can be found in Tim Jeal’s monumental and definitive biography, Baden-Powell (1989), in which Jael states frankly: > > ``` > "The evidence available points inexorably to the conclusion that Baden-Powell was a repressed homosexual, (... but) he managed to follow Plato's prescription glorifying the love of man for man, or man for boy, while remaining physically chaste." > > ``` > [@](#): > > [http://www.rslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/main/gl980109.htm](http://www.rslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/main/gl980109.htm) > n fact, it has long been suggested that the founder of Boy Scouts, Robert Baden-Powell, was gay, and he can be found on a number of [“Gays in History”](http://www.bway.net/~halsall/lgbh/lgbh-queerhst.txt) lists and many books have dealt openly with the topic, including noting passages from his diary and correspondence wherein he often expressed enjoyment at watching young men swim naked, enjoyed pictures of nude men, and expressed disdain for female nudity. Further indications of his orientation include his decades-long friendship with Kenneth McLaren, with whom he served in the British Military and always made sure he bunked. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boy-scout-offical-charged-in-child-pornography-case/296814.md?page=2)