In this Investigative programme, former scouts who allege they were abused, have expressed their concerns about Scouting Ireland being allowed to carry out its own review of the complaints.
It is understood that a former scout leader, who was only removed from the organisation at the time of his arrest last year, was first brought to the attention of Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI) leadership as early as 1987 by a concerned parent.
Despite being reprimanded at the time for taking scouts to his home, he continued to do so. This led to a second complaint being brought to the attention of the CBSI almost a decade later in 1996.
The former leader is now under garda investigation and statements have been taken from his alleged victims.
Investigators have spoken to a number of former scouts who were abused.
They are unhappy the Government is allowing Scouting Ireland to carry out its own historic review of complaints and have called for an independent inquiry instead.
This call is backed up by the child law expert, Geoffrey Shannon, who said that any review of historic abuse "should be independent. So it shouldn't involve members of the organisation under review.
"It should be prompt particularly in the context of children because other children may be at risk and it should be transparent, in other words the results of the review should be made publicly available."
Scouting Ireland's review of its historic files of complaint, which was started in 2017, is not due to be published until February 2020.
"That was the moment my childhood ended. It was where a normal childhood should have went on. But mine stopped"
The Investigation examined how a number of child abuse complaints have been handled up to recent times by Scouting Ireland's predecessor organisations - the CBSI and the Scouting Association of Ireland (SAI).
Scouting Ireland is not expected to be compliant with the governance code of the Charities Regulatory Authority until December 2020.
The programme highlights, through a series of case studies, how some scout leaders in SAI and the CBSI were able to sexually abuse cubs and scouts for prolonged periods either without detection or when complaints were made, without referral to statutory authorities.
Some perpetrators 'moved from one local group to another'
Katherine Zappone was given a briefing document last year
In a briefing document from Scouting Ireland to Minister for Children Katherine Zappone last year, the organisation stated that its historic review found that some perpetrators "moved from one local group to another" and "in one case moved between two different scouting organisations".
The case of David O'Brien, a former scout leader and now convicted sex offender, is an example of this. He moved around at least five different scout troops, where by his own admission he sexually abused roughly 60 boys, mostly young cub scouts.
By moving around he evaded justice during the 1970s and 1980s. At the start of the 1970s he was based in a SAI troop in north Dublin called the 51st Kilmore, from there he went to another SAI troop called the 49th Ardlea. He also had acted as visiting scout leader to two other troops.
"They shattered my soul. They killed my soul"
When a parent complained about his behaviour in the 49th Ardlea, he was removed but was able to move to other scout troops, this time with the CBSI in Westland Row, to the 10th and 11th troops.
His abuse changed the lives of many young children, now men. In 2015, O'Brien was convicted of the indecent assault of six men, for which he received a four-and-half-year prison sentence.
Last month he was convicted of the sexual assault of a further four people and received a six-and a-half year sentence.
One former cub who O'Brien pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting is Paul O'Toole from Artane. He was repeatedly sexually abused at remote locations on camps when he was part of the SAI’s Kilmore troop, where O’Brien was a leader in the early 1970s.
Mr O'Toole remembers his helplessness when he was abused on a camping trip to Co Wicklow.
"You could scream all you want but there was a mile of pine trees in every direction."
From the first time he was assaulted, he felt changed forever. "That was the moment my childhood ended. It was where a normal childhood should have went on. But mine stopped," he said.
Another one of O'Brien's victims is Dave Smyth, also originally from the same locality of Maryfield in Artane.
He encountered O'Brien in SAI's 49th Ardlea troop.
After he was abused at the age of 11 he started drinking and had a very troubled adolescence. As soon as he could, he emigrated to the US, where he has lived ever since.
The programme reveals that a second convicted sex offender, James Leddy, was operating in the 49th Ardlea troop as patrol leader, at same time O'Brien was there.
Colm Bracken was victimised by both men.
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