Berkley, CA Boy Scout Affiliate Leader Held on Suspicion of Molestation

It is so sweet when hypocrites get caught and exposed (not their often vile crimes but their exposure as a hypocrite). This story from the San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/05/BACLTONGF.DTL) reports on the arrest of a prominent leader of the Boy Scout affiliate and youth program, Sea Scouts, that is known for excluding gays and atheists. Last year, the California Supreme Court rightly voted unanimously to back the city of Berkeley's decision not to subsidize the group's rent at the Berkeley Marina because of the organization's discriminatory policies (basically what Philadelphia is preparing to do to the Boy Scout Council that has enjoyed free rent for decades). The appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving the California Supreme Court ruling as California law.

What makes the hypocrisy so sweet in this story is that Evans not only was a leader of the Berkeley Sea Scouts for the past 35 years, but he was also the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against the city of Berkley challenging the city's decision to end the group's rent-free berthing because the Sea Scouts discriminated against gays. Once again, a self-loathing, homophobic pedophile active in an anti-gay organization, just like in the case of the Catholic Church. Here are some story highlights:

BERKELEY -- A longtime Sea Scouts leader arrested on suspicion of child molestation was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Berkeley's decision to end the group's rent-free berthing because of the Boy Scout bans on gays and atheists. Eugene Austin Evans, 64, of Kensington was arrested Tuesday for allegedly abusing four current or former Sea Scout members on his boat, the SSS Farallon, over the past several years, said Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.

Evans, who has been the Farallon's skipper for 35 years, is being held in lieu of $1 million bail on six felony counts of sexual assault, including allegations of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, oral copulation with a minor, penetration with a foreign object of a minor and showing harmful material to minors, police said.

The Daily Californian has additional coverage (http://www.dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=27124) that includes the following highlights:

An investigation began Nov. 14 when a young man and his family contacted detectives and identified him as a victim of sexual assault by Evans. “With an investigation like this, our concern is that too much window of opportunity may exist for someone like Mr. Evans to continue to sexually abuse young people, so detectives worked as quickly as they could in order to ... arrest Mr. Evans,” Kusmiss said.

Since the initial report, Kusmiss said detectives have interviewed three additional victims willing to participate in the investigation, and she said she expects more to come forward. Thus far, Kusmiss said all reports have been of molestation of boys between the ages of 13 and 17 and have taken place on the Sea Scouts’ boat. “We are quite certain that there are more victims of Mr. Evans, just based solely on the longevity of his work with youth,” Kusmiss said.