Boy Scouts file for bankruptcy due to sex-abuse lawsuits

(AP) The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy protection as it faces a barrage of new sex-abuse lawsuits.

The filing Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, is an attempt to work out a potentially mammoth compensation plan for abuse victims that will allow the 110-year-old organization to carry on. It could be one of the biggest, most complex bankruptcies ever seen.

Scores of lawyers are seeking settlements on behalf of several thousand men who say they were molested as boys by scout leaders decades ago. The organization could be forced to sell off some of its vast property holdings to raise money for a compensation fund that could surpass $1 billion.