Prison Sees Release Of Former Boy Scouts Safety Director


Remember when the Boy Scouts were an innocent group that supported fun and responsibility among boys? A lot has changed in the recent years. The Boy Scouts of America have been known to harbor pedophiles and other undesirables and have taken a firm stance against the gay community in spite of public outcry. But one man stands apart from the crowd.

Douglas Sovereign Smith Jr., former national director for youth protection, was released from prison last week after nearly seven years. He was in charge of Scout safety in 2005 when police had discovered a collection of child pornography and videos on his home computer.

Smith reenters public life at a time when the Scouts are being watched like a hawk over their past handling of alleged child sex abuse among the leaders. According to Regator, none of Smith’s collected images were of Scouts, and he was never accused of molesting children, but it was an indication that he supported such things.

Patrick Boyle, author of “Scout’s Honor: Sexual Abuse in America’s Most Trusted Institution,” stated:

“It certainly shows that the people supervising him didn’t have their eyes wide open.”

An Eagle Scout who for 39 years rose through the ranks as a BSA employee, Smith is now a registered sex offender and must report to a probation officer for life. The 69-year-old grandfather can’t be given access to the Internet or possess a smartphone or any device capable of capturing images.

The Scouts would not discuss Smith’s employment or ongoing benefits package. Nor would they release details on his criminal case, says Yahoo News.

Deron Smith mentioned in an email:

“Because this is a personnel matter we can’t discuss the details. But I can say at the time of his arrest, Mr. Smith was permanently removed from the Scouting program …Unfortunately child sex abuse, of any kind, is a societal problem that we must all be concerned with which is why we have continuously enhanced our multi-tiered Youth Protection policies and procedures to ensure we are in line with and, where possible, ahead of society’s knowledge of abuse and best practices for prevention.”

“[Douglas]’s done his time,” his wife said.

And we all hope Smith has learned his lesson.

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