Akins v. Estes

888 S.W.2d 35, 1994 WL 455791
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 16, 1994
Docket07-93-0291-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 888 S.W.2d 35 (Akins v. Estes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Akins v. Estes, 888 S.W.2d 35, 1994 WL 455791 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinions

POFF, Justice.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment against appellant Veronica Akins individually and as next friend of her son Chance Curtis. Appellant sued (1) Melvin Estes; (2) Golden Spread Council, Inc. # 562 of the Boy Scouts of America (GSC); and (3) Boy Scouts of America, Inc. (BSA). Appellant alleged that Estes, a scoutmaster, sexually abused her son and that the negligence of GSC and BSA was a proximate cause of the abuse and the accompanying harm. GSC and BSA moved for summary judgment and the trial court granted the motion.1

On appeal, appellant brings a single point of error in which she contends the trial court erred in granting summary judgment. For the reasons expressed below, we will sustain the point of error, reverse the trial court’s order of summary judgment, and remand the cause for trial.

Facts

In the summer of 1987, Melvin Estes was serving as -an assistant scoutmaster in Boy Scout Troop 22. Chance Curtis had just completed the sixth grade. During that summer, Chance was invited by his best friend to a Troop 22 meeting. When Chance arrived at the meeting, he discovered that Estes was associated with the troop. Chance subsequently joined Troop 22.

Although Chance did not know Estes was an assistant scoutmaster with Troop 22 until after he arrived at the troop meeting, Chance was already acquainted with Estes. Estes and Chance lived in the same neighborhood; Chance had become friends with Estes’ two sons, particularly with Estes’ son William. Chance would sometimes spend the night at William’s house and William would sometimes spend the night at Chance’s house. Chance’s mother (appellant) provided child care to the two Estes boys for a six-month period of time including the summer after Chance and William had completed the fifth grade (1986). It was during this period of close friendship between William and Chance that Estes began to sexually molest Chance.

Estes and his wife were having marital difficulties and were not living together. Consequently, when Chance would spend the night at the Estes home, Mrs. Estes would not be present. The molestation first occurred when Chance was spending the night at William’s home. The record shows that Chance was molested on four separate occasions that summer by Estes. We need not recite the details of the molestations other [38]*38than to say that the incidents were serious and criminal. Chance stopped associating with William shortly after that summer and Chance’s mother stopped babysitting the Estes boys. Chance had no further contact with Estes until the next summer (1987) when he first attended a meeting of Troop 22.

Charles Hearn was the scoutmaster of Troop 22. Shortly after joining Troop 22, Chance told Hearn’s son Ricky and other fellow scouts the details of his molestation by Estes. Some of the other scouts (but apparently not Ricky Hearn) confided in Chance that Estes had “tried the same thing with them.” Chance did not tell Charles Hearn that Estes had molested him. But Charles Hearn did learn that something was amiss with Estes.

During that same summer of 1987, Charles Hearn and his son Ricky went to Kevin Herbert, a GSC employee and related their concerns regarding Estes. Herbert testified by deposition concerning his conversation with the Hearns but he was not very specific concerning the details of the conversation. The essence of Herbert’s testimony is that the Hearns told him “they had heard there was some kind of situation between [Estes] and ... some of the boys.” When asked if sexual molestation had been mentioned, Herbert responded that “as far as sexual molestation, that wasn’t specifically made clear to me.”

Herbert testified that he made a half-page, handwritten report of his conversation with the Hearns and forwarded it to Myron Rose-brook, the Scout Executive for GSC. Herbert stated that he made the report in compliance with the procedure set forth in a scout policy notebook dealing with sexual, physical and mental abuse. Herbert said that upon giving his report to Rosebrook, the matter was Rosebrook’s concern.

Within two to three months after the Hearns spoke to Herbert, a district2 scout commission recommended Estes as a potential scoutmaster for a new troop that a church wished to sponsor. Herbert testified that he did not make the district commission aware of what he knew about Estes because at least some of the members of the commission already knew of the allegations. The new troop, Troop 223, came into existence shortly thereafter and the troop committee selected Estes to be the scoutmaster.

Like Herbert, Rosebrook sounded no alarms concerning Estes when the sponsoring church considered making Estes its scoutmaster. According to Rosebrook’s deposition testimony, Herbert reported to him that Ricky Hearn “had heard a boy say that Mr. Estes was messing with some boys.” Rosebrook, a 26-year employee of various local Boy Scout councils, originally stated in his deposition that he had no idea what the term “messing with some boys” meant. However, later in his deposition, Rosebrook admitted that he was concerned when he heard that some boys were being “messed with” and he admitted that the term could include inappropriate activity such as sexual molestation. Rosebrook conceded that he knew the report of Estes “messing with some boys” needed to be investigated.

Rosebrook testified that it was shortly after the negative report on Estes that a local church decided it wanted Estes to be its scoutmaster. Rosebrook stated that it was the responsibility of Mr. Herbert and the local district to put the church in contact with a potential scoutmaster. Rosebrook said that “[t]he local chartered organization [the local church], after being introduced to Mr. Estes, decided they wanted him as a Scout master.” Rosebrook maintained that he himself had nothing to do with introducing Estes to the local chartered organization as a prospective scoutmaster. Rosebrook testified that he voiced no objection and never thought about voicing any objection to the decision to introduce Estes to the local church as a prospective scoutmaster. The only person to make Rosebrook aware of any suspicions surrounding Estes had been Herbert. Rosebrook made no reports concerning Estes to anyone else in the Boy Scouts until a much later time when Estes was [39]*39arrested.3

Rosebrook testified that he thought Estes’ possible misconduct was a serious matter. Upon receiving Herbert’s report, he directed Herbert to talk to the Hearns again and to “sit down and write down everything he [Herbert] [could] about it, and find out who the boys might have been, so that it could be investigated.” Rosebrook stated that Herbert talked to the Hearns again and Herbert found there had been an ongoing feud between the Hearn family and the Estes family. Ricky Hearn could not or would not provide any information as to the boys involved. According to Rosebrook, Ricky Hearn told Herbert that the charges against Estes came from “a Scout who was a known liar.” Based upon the Hearns’ conversation with Herbert, Rosebrook determined that the allegations concerning Estes were “just another step in their [Estes’ and Hearn’s] fight.” Rosebrook considered the charges concerning Estes to be completely discredited.

Rosebrook did not discuss the matter with local police or others because he considered the matter to be based on an unfounded rumor that could not be substantiated.

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Akins v. Estes
888 S.W.2d 35 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)

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888 S.W.2d 35, 1994 WL 455791, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/akins-v-estes-texapp-1994.