Boy Scouts of Central Wyoming Official: Current Scouts Are Safe

Under an order by the Oregon Supreme Court, over 1,200 confidential files were released by the Boy Scouts of America earlier this month. The files gave insight into how the youth organization internally handled its cases of sexual abuse.

According to a Los Angeles Times database, over 5,000 men were implicated from 1947 to 2009. Editors with the L.A. Times say that number may not encompass the total number of men involved - the Boy Scouts of America reportedly destroyed many abuse-related files over a multi-year span.

Several instances of sexual misconduct were reported in Wyoming, though many of those occurrences involved visiting out-of-state units.

Matt Myers, the executive director for the Boy Scouts of Central Wyoming, says the organization has been taking enhanced measures to protect its boys since the early 1980s.

The Boy Scouts of America have created barriers to abuse through adult and youth protection training, background checks with the Boy Scouts of America, and every handbook in the Boy Scouts of America starts with how to protect your child from child abuse," Myers said.

Myers says child safety is an ongoing point of emphasis for the Boy Scouts of America.

The Boy Scouts of America take this issue very seriously, and any leader that does anything that's inappropriate is removed," Myers said. "We let people know what inappropriate activity is through our training programs."

Of the over 1,200 files that were released, 12 involved sexual misconduct in Wyoming.

One file involved a former central Wyoming branch scoutmaster. Luciano Ernest “Ernie” Martinez was expelled from the organization after being arrested on three counts of child molestation after reportedly molesting a Cub Scout in May of 1971. It was rumored Martinez molested two boys in Cody in February of 1971.

The central Wyoming branch notified the Boy Scouts of America about Martinez's activity in June of 1971. Martinez was added to the Boy Scouts’ confidential file in August of 1971.