New molestation allegations surface against former Boy Scouts leader
Decades-old allegations of sexual abuse have surfaced against a former Gainesville scoutmaster who has already confessed to molesting at least five boys, court documents reveal.
Fleming Weaver, now 83, is being sued by a former Boy Scout who claims the onetime scoutmaster and public relations executive raped him.
A 2016 investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution uncovered the secret life of Weaver, who, in 1982, was forced to resign as leader of Troop 26, sponsored by Gainesville's First Baptist Church, after the father of one of his victims reported the abuse to the church's pastor at the time, Steve Brown. The accusations were kept quiet, however, and Weaver continued his involvement with the Scouts, working with the Order of the Arrow where, in 1985, he allegedly raped a Gainesville teen-ager, Robb Lawson.
Weaver, the Boy Scouts, First Baptist, Brown and the estate of Gene Bobo, a former church member and Scout executive, are named in Lawson’s suit.
The Boy Scouts have resisted efforts by Lawson's attorneys to produce Weaver's volunteer file but acknowledged, in response to the plaintiff's request, that it has "since acquired knowledge that Weaver had been accused of sexually abusing Scouts from other troops from a time period prior to his appointment as Troop 26 Scout Leader" in 1969.
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
