GAINESVILLE - The release of the so-called Boy Scouts of America "perversion files" has revived memories of a 1988 Hall County case involving a Boy Scout leader.
Larry Calabro was convicted in 1988 of the sexual molestation of seven young boys under his leadership; he was sentenced to 105 years in prison.
One of the members of Calabro's court-appointed defense team was Chandelle Summer, a Gainesville attorney. Summer said it was one of her first cases as a young lawyer and it made an impact on her not just professionally, but also personally.
"It made an impression in me, and I didn't want my children to join the Boy Scouts," said Summer. "Whenever people would ask me why I wouldn't [let my children join], I would cite this case and say 'I've had an experience where I saw first-hand somone who was in a position of trust and children were in his custody and he abused them.'"
The Calabro case is not one of the hundreds of cases included in the confidential files that were released in Oregon Thursday, since it was one that was publicly tried. The others on the list were kept out of the public eye and span decades of private charges against the Boy Scouts of America.
Some 97 Georgia cases are included in the files released Thursday, and a number of them originate in North Georgia cities, including Gainesville, Flowery Branch, Blue Ridge, Clayton, Maysville, Winder, Lawrenceville and Athens.
Chandelle Summer is also a co-host on WDUN's Morning Talk.
Monday
May 13th, 2024
8:02PM
