BUFFALO, N.Y. — Two and a half years after the Child Victims Act became law here in New York, the state's first jury verdict came here in Erie County.
That verdict of $25 million is against a local scoutmaster, sued by a man who says he was sexually abused decades ago.
That man's attorneys say he was abused by Scoutmaster Robert Eberhart in the early 1970s in their scouting troop in Cheektowaga.
The jury on Wednesday came back, awarding the man $15 million for pain and suffering and $10 million in punitive damages, which is more than he had been asking for.
"That was just confirmation that they believe that what he went through was horrific and that he was in no way at fault or responsible," said the plaintiff's attorney, Amy Keller.
"But I think at the end of the day, no one would want to be victimized, and certainly not to the extent he was extremely, horrifically abused as a child. And I don't think that there's any money in this world that he would take that trade."
The attorneys say there are still cases going against the Boy Scouts of America and the organization that hosted meetings for Eberhardt's troop.