Faced w/ Massive Claims for Sexual Abuse, Boy Scouts of America Plans to Sell Norman Rockwell Paintings

Faced with massive settlement claims for sexual abuse, the Boy Scouts of America plans to set up a $300 million fund for the 85,000 victims of former scouts. While the organization had filed for bankruptcy last February, the current officials of Boy Scouts of America are proposing to sell the organization’s collection of Norman Rockwell paintings, consisting of 60 artworks in prints, oil paintings or on paper created by the American artist from 1916 to 1976.

The sale is expected to command high prices, since Norman Rockwell paintings were sold at higher than estimated prices. The 1951 “Saying Grace” was sold in 2013 at New York Sotheby’s for $46.1 million. Other Rockwell works that was sold at the Sotheby’s New York include Breaking Home Times (1954) for $15.4 million and four others that broke the $10 million goal.

Boy Scouts of America Officials Say They are Shocked by Number of Sexual Abuse Claims

According to a statement released last year, the organization was shocked with the number of individuals that experienced sexual abuse while scouting. In November 2020, 82,000 individuals came forward and claimed they were sexually abused by scout leaders who were supposed to serve as role models.

The count went on to increase as the deadline stated by the Delaware bankruptcy court in establishing the total claims that the Boy Scouts organization will pay as damages to the victims.
Paul Mones, one of the lawyer working on several of the cases for about 20 years now, said the number of claims was devastating its possible it might only be a fraction of the actual number of victims.

Mones said he knew were a lot of Boy Scouts cases that have been filed but he did not expect that the number was far higher than those that have been filed in court.