US judge signs off on $850m Boy Scouts sex abuse settlement

Ruling enables the Boy Scouts, hit by a flood of lawsuits last year, to move ahead with a proposed reorganisation plan.

The Boy Scouts of America can enter into a pivotal $850m agreement settling thousands of child sex abuse claims, having been approved by a US bankruptcy court. The ruling on Thursday by Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein of Delaware will enable the Boy Scouts to move ahead with a proposed reorganisation plan that would allow the group to exit bankruptcy by the end of the year. Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2020 after being hit with a flood of sexual abuse lawsuits.