Scott Coats lived in Weedsport for two years as a young teenager. As a transfer student living with his single mother, he says he was an outcast.

Soon after joining Boy Scouts, he says his scout master Victor Sine began sexually abusing him.

"He would shun me if I didn't cooperate,” said Coats. “He would withhold rides home so I would have to ride the bus, and then I would get beat up. And I would beg him to take me back into his fold."

"How would I fight against that?” Coats asked. “How would I immune the reputation of a man like that? Don't do what I did. Don't bury this, it doesn't work. I tried it."

New York State passed the Child Victims Act last year. It gives survivors like Coats the opportunity to file a lawsuit against their abusers, decades after the incidents happened.

"There will always be predators,” said Cynthia LaFave, an attorney at Wein and Frament. “There will always be pedophiles. But if we treat them correctly, if we disclose, if we stop the secrecy, we will be able to change the world and protect the children."

"They single them out from a herd like a wolf hunting,” said Coats. “They circle them, they target them, they figure out how to get at them."

Despite what happened to him, Coats does not regret being a Boy Scout. He just wants to see change.

"I'm proud to be a Boy Scout,” Coats said. “I'm proud of what I learned in the Boy Scouts."

The Boy Scounts of America sent a statement to Spectrum News on Wednesday night.

"First and foremost, we care deeply about all victims of child abuse and sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting. We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our program to abuse innocent children. We believe victims, we support them, we pay for counseling by a provider of their choice and we encourage them to come forward. It is the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) policy that all incidents of suspected abuse are reported to law enforcement. 

Our records indicate that Mr. Sine was added to the Volunteer Screening Database (VSD) on May 12, 1999, following the receipt of a fax from Mr. Coats on May 5, 1999 notifying BSA of reported abuse. Inclusion in the VSD would have removed Mr. Sine from Scouting and barred him from further participation in our programs. We deeply apologize if we did not properly inform Mr. Coats of the actions taken against Mr. Sine at that time."