Calif. Judge Allows Punitive Damages in Scout Molestation Suit

A California judge says a boy suing the Boy Scouts of America for troop leader sexual abuse can seek punitive damages.

The Santa Barbara News-Press says a judge made the ruling Wednesday, nearly four years after a 13-year-old Boy Scout was molested by volunteer troop leader Al Stein at a Boy Scouts Christmas tree sale in Goleta.

The civil trial is scheduled for April.

Boy Scouts of America and the local BSA council sought to eliminate punitive damages.

The judge says some of the boy’s allegations indicate negligence in supervision and hiring.

Stein pleaded no contest to two molestation counts in 2009 and he’s in prison.