Thomas Hacker Victims and Acquaintances Speak Out

Former colleagues, scouts and youth baseball league players recount the missed cues of the Boy Scouts' most prolific serial pedophile.

Thomas Hacker Victims and Acquaintances Speak Out

Former colleagues, scouts and youth baseball league players recount the missed cues of the Boy Scouts' most prolific serial pedophile.

Among the many red flags that stood out about convicted child sex predator Thomas Hacker were the shorts he wore coaching games and running the concession stand at Westside Baseball in the early 1980s. Connect with Patch: Oak Lawn / Beverly-Mt. Greenwood / Evergreen Park He liked to wear them pulled high over his waist so that they barely covered his thighs, recalled Bill Olsen, who was 12 years old when he played for Hacker on the Westside's all-star team, circa 1980. “I found him odd, just the way he presented himself,” Olsen said. “Just hearing the name gives me chills. Even talking about it right now I get a little angry.” Hacker was convicted in 1989 on multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault against three Boy Scouts, ages 11 and…

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More Cry Sex Abuse in Case of Convicted Boy Scout Leader

Burbank Park District named in lawsuit against convicted serial pedophile, Thomas Hacker.

Additional lawsuits were filed Wednesday against a currently incarcerated sex abuse convict who served as an Scout leader, schoolteacher and park district executive. Connect with Patch: Oak Lawn / Evergreen Park / Beverly-Mt. Greenwood Thomas Hacker, now 76, is serving a sentence on multiple convictions of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of young boys. The victims' reports date back to the 1980s and four others came forward this week, leading to even more charges filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The latest victims allege that they were also sexually abused as children. They claim they suppressed memories of the alleged abuse until recent news reports of Hacker’s name surfacing among the 1,200 secret “perversion” files compiled …

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Inside the 'Perversion Files' of the Illinois Boy Scouts

Scouts were stripped naked and rubbed with ice cubes, forced to have oral sex with their troop leaders and molested on camping trips. These and other sex crimes are detailed in files the Boy Scouts of America kept secret for decades.

What do an elementary schoolteacher, a voodoo cultist, a shipping clerk and a prison guard have in common? Each has a "perversion file" kept by the Boy Scouts of America in secret records that detail decades of sex abuse allegations. Almost 300 cases involving men and Boy Scout troops throughout Illinois are among the 1,200 secret Boy Scout files released last week by order of the Oregon Supreme Court. In Illinois, the files date to the 1960s and extend through the ensuing five decades. The Boy Scouts of America used these records to prevent blackballed Scout leaders from returning to the organization with other troops. The files are filled with correspondence between the leadership of the Scouts and troop leaders, interviews with Scouts …

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Look Up Boy Scout Leaders Expelled in Illinois

Almost 300 Illinois records are included in the Boy Scouts of America's once-secret "perversion files." Search for your town or troop number.

Patch's searchable database allows you to search by cities in Illinois. Information gathered by the Los Angeles Times shows the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America who were expelled between 1947 and 2005 on suspicions or confirmation of sexual abuse. If a troop is listed, a case file exists. At this time, not all case files are available online. As new documents become available, Patch will update this database.

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