Jailed former Berkeley Sea Scout leader sued by three victims

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 4, 2009 | by Paul T Rosynsky

OAKLAND -- A former Berkeley Sea Scout leader serving six years in prison for molesting teenage members of his troop was sued this week by three victims who claim the leader caused them severe mental and physical harm.

Eugene Evans, 65, along with the Boy Scouts of America and three affiliated programs were named in the suit which seeks monetary damages for past and future medical bills, lost wages and physical and mental damage caused by Evans' sexual conduct.

Evans was arrested and charged in 2007 on six felony counts of sexual assault for molesting members of his Sea Scout unit aboard the group's boat, the USS Farallon.

As the investigation continued, additional victims surfaced, and Evans eventually faced 18 felony charges for child molestation and showing pornographic material to minors.

Although Evans initially denied the claims, he admitted last year he molested two boys as part of a plea deal that found him guilty of two felony counts and sent him to prison for six years.

While the Alameda County District Attorney's Office said it reached the deal to spare victims the emotional stress of having to testify in a trial, three of the boys molested now say they want tell their story in court to prevent a similar situation from happening again, their attorney Alexis McKenna said.

"They are at the point where they want to do whatever it is they can to make sure this never happens again," she said. "It certainly is not something they are looking forward to, but it is something they want to do."

Portions of their stories were presented in the lawsuit filed Tuesday which describes in detail how Evans scared his Scouts into not telling anybody about his actions and how he turned routine actions into sexual interactions.

The suit claims Evans continually made references to masturbation and encouraged his Scouts to read pornographic material while onboard their boat. Evans gave sexual names to mundane items such as "penis butter and jelly" sandwiches and encouraged Scouts to act inappropriately by "mooning" cars during trips, the lawsuit states.

Evans was able to keep the Scouts quiet, the lawsuit alleges by running "the program with a divide and conquer mentality. Turning kids against each other so that he could obtain sexual access to the Scouts he wanted."

Once Evans had the Scouts he wanted isolated aboard the boat, the lawsuit says, he continually tried to touch them by giving massages or waiting until they fell asleep before he began to touch their genitals.

Two victims in the lawsuit each say Evans touched them dozens of times. At the time, they ranged in age from 13 to 16 years old.

"He preyed upon those who are particularly vulnerable and he set up an attitude where nobody talked about it," McKenna said. "On top of the normal shame, he set up this peer pressure among them."

The suit also alleges the actions persisted because neither the Boy Scouts of America nor two affiliate programs that ran the Berkeley Sea Scout unit followed through with guidelines instituted in the 1980s to prevent such occurrences.

In addition, the lawsuit says if anyone had checked on Evans they would have easily discovered what he was doing.

Representatives from the Boy Scouts of America referred calls to the organization's local Alameda counsel.

Representatives there did not return calls seeking comment; nor did Evans' criminal defense attorney Phil Schnayerson.

McKenna said the three victims suing Evans and the Boy Scouts are now all adults who have suffered through both mental and physical harm. She said one of the victims currently suffers from seizures which doctors found are directly related to the stress caused by the abuse.

"They have been socially and physically impaired by this," she said. "It has been quite tremendous."

Paul T. Rosynsky can be reached at prosynsky@bayareanewsgroup.com or 510-208-6455.