WHAT ABOUT THE BOYS?Independent reporting on boys and male survivors

Research archive · October 2026

Where the research leads.

The places on this map include schools, camps, churches and institutions that appear in documented cases and inquiries involving boys. Behind the marks are accounts that reached a court, an investigator, a reporter or another part of the public record. Many boys never had the opportunity to make their experiences part of any record.

United States map marking research entries concerning sexual abuse of boys, color-coded by institution category and including state and city figures.
Original research visualization · U.S. locations and comparative entriesOpen full-size map ↗

What a point represents. Locations on the graphic may refer to a case, an institution, a property or an individual connection. The same location can appear in more than one case. The visualization does not count distinct boys or establish a national prevalence rate.

Counting note. The graphic displays a headline count of 1,286 mapped cases, while its printed category counts total 1,486. Those totals have not been reconciled against a location-level dataset. The accompanying bibliography documents the related public sources; it does not independently validate that aggregate count.

Case directory

The places in the research

This directory draws from the screened U.S. case roster and the source register, with each entry tied to the disposition or procedural posture documented in the cited material. The entries include claims in court proceedings as well as findings from official investigations. Each entry describes a matter in the archive. It cannot be used to count individual victims or independently confirm any point on the map.

28 documented entries

MissouriCamps and youth organizationsConviction and civil litigation

Kanakuk Kamps

A former camp director was convicted of abusing boys. Later litigation addressed alleged institutional notice and responsibility, with separate rulings limiting particular liability claims.

Read the supporting sources
MissouriResidential care and custodyCivil litigation

Agapé Boarding School

Court filings and a state petition describe allegations about staff conduct and failures to protect residents. The cited federal ruling addresses civil proceedings; its allegations are not findings of criminal guilt.

Read the supporting sources
TexasResidential care and custodyFederal findings

Texas Juvenile Justice Department

A 2024 Justice Department investigation found unconstitutional conditions across five juvenile facilities, including failures to protect children from sexual abuse. Later state audit and safeguarding materials document the agency’s responses.

Read the supporting sources
New HampshireResidential care and custodyCriminal and civil proceedings

New Hampshire Youth Development Center

Claims concerning abuse in state juvenile custody have prompted litigation and a state compensation process. The cited sources also describe a 2026 mistrial; a mistrial is not a conviction.

Read the supporting sources
United StatesCamps and youth organizationsBankruptcy settlement

Boy Scouts of America

Court proceedings address implementation of a national settlement for sexual-abuse claims against the Boy Scouts. A claim in the settlement system is not necessarily a distinct, adjudicated abuse incident.

Read the supporting sources
NevadaSchools and instructionCivil allegations and charges

Alexander Dawson School

A family’s 2026 lawsuit alleges a school failed to protect a boy after reported peer sexual violence. Related criminal charging and civil reporting describe separate procedural claims that remain subject to court review.

Read the supporting sources
VirginiaReligionFederal indictment

The Falls Church youth ministry

Federal prosecutors charged a former youth minister with offenses involving children. The institution also commissioned an independent investigation; allegations in an indictment remain unproven until adjudicated.

Read the supporting sources
United StatesResidential care and custodyCivil case dismissed

Southwest Key Programs

A federal complaint alleged sexual abuse and harassment in shelters for unaccompanied children. The DOJ civil case was later dismissed with prejudice; its allegations must not be described as court-established findings.

Read the supporting sources
MissouriSchools and instructionCivil litigation

Missouri Military Academy

A student’s lawsuit alleges sexual abuse and inadequate intervention at a boys’ boarding school. The school publicly disputed the allegations; a federal docket documents the civil proceedings.

Read the supporting sources
MassachusettsReligionOfficial investigation

Massachusetts Catholic dioceses inquiry

A 2026 attorney general’s report examined allegations and institutional responses in the Fall River, Springfield and Worcester dioceses. The report covers mixed populations; the entire inquiry cannot be counted as boys-only cases.

Read the supporting sources
New YorkResidential care and custodyCivil litigation

St. Vincent’s Home for Boys

Child Victims Act proceedings describe allegations relating to a residential boys’ institution and church entities. Different judicial decisions limit particular claims and defendants.

Read the supporting sources
MarylandResidential care and custodyDismissal without prejudice

Charles H. Hickey Jr. School

A federal civil complaint alleged abuse in Maryland juvenile custody. The reviewed ruling dismissed the case without prejudice; the allegation and the procedural ruling are presented separately.

Read the supporting sources
PennsylvaniaSchools and instructionConviction and sentence

Timothy James Shay — private music instruction

Bucks County prosecutors reported a sentence of 18 to 54 years for a former piano instructor convicted of child abuse. The case documents abuse involving boys within private instruction.

Read the supporting sources
MarylandReligionGuilty plea and civil allegations

Central Christian Church youth ministry

A former youth pastor pleaded guilty to abuse of a minor. A separate civil lawsuit alleges church officials ignored warnings; those institutional allegations remain contested.

Read the supporting sources
Rhode IslandSchools and instructionAcquittals and civil proceedings

North Kingstown High School

A school athletics case involving Aaron Thomas has generated civil proceedings and scrutiny of earlier complaints. Thomas was acquitted of sexual-assault and molestation charges and convicted of misdemeanor battery; those outcomes must remain distinct.

Read the supporting sources
New YorkMedicineConviction and institutional agreement

Darius Paduch and Weill Cornell Medicine

Paduch was sentenced to life in prison for abusing patients, including boys. In 2026, prosecutors announced an agreement requiring Weill Cornell Medicine to maintain and strengthen safeguards following a criminal investigation.

Read the supporting sources

These case summaries reflect the identified source material as of 8 October 2026. A charge remains an allegation. A dismissed complaint cannot be counted as an adjudicated finding. Institutional employment or geographic proximity alone does not establish organizational knowledge or complicity.

Institutional response

What the dated sources show

The chronology of a case often extends beyond an arrest or conviction. A court decision or an official inquiry can help establish when a matter reached public attention and how an institution responded. The four timelines below preserve the distinctions between their sources.

Kanakuk Kamps

A conviction and the later civil questions

  1. 1999 and 2003

    In its own response, Kanakuk discusses earlier incidents involving nudity and teenage boys and states how the organization interpreted them at the time.

    Read the underlying source
  2. 2010

    Peter Newman was sentenced for sexually abusing boys; this disposition is recounted in later reporting.

    Read the underlying source
  3. April 2025

    A new civil complaint alleged the camp concealed information about abuse. The lawsuit’s institutional claims require their own adjudication.

    Read the underlying source
  4. 2026

    A Missouri appellate ruling addressed particular liability claims. Its legal limitations remain part of the chronology.

    Read the underlying source

Texas juvenile facilities

The federal findings and the response that followed

  1. August 2024

    The Justice Department published findings concerning five state juvenile facilities, including failures to protect young people from sexual abuse.

    Read the underlying source
  2. September 2025

    A Prison Rape Elimination Act audit reported on Gainesville State Juvenile Correctional Facility. Its conclusions concern that facility and audit period.

    Read the underlying source
  3. February 2026

    The state described efforts to pursue an external safeguarding certification. This is an agency statement about a response, not independent confirmation of remediation.

    Read the underlying source

New Hampshire Youth Development Center

Claims, state administration and criminal process

  1. 2024

    A published claims-administration report documented the structure and activity of the state compensation process.

    Read the underlying source
  2. July 2026

    The state addressed settlement funding for Youth Development Center claims.

    Read the underlying source
  3. September 2026

    A criminal case ended in a mistrial, leaving the issues in that proceeding unresolved by a verdict.

    Read the underlying source

Darius Paduch and Weill Cornell Medicine

Criminal sentencing and the subsequent institutional agreement

  1. November 2024

    Federal prosecutors reported Paduch’s life sentence for the sexual abuse of patients, including children.

    Read the underlying source
  2. July 2026

    Prosecutors announced a resolution with Weill Cornell Medicine requiring remedial measures related to patient protection.

    Read the underlying source

Original documentation

Read the documents

These records are worth opening in full. The selection favors agency investigations and court materials that let readers examine the original wording. Some contain allegations that were not adjudicated, and the legal status remains part of the description.

Investigation of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department

U.S. Department of Justice · August 2024

An official findings report addressing conditions across five juvenile facilities, including sexual-abuse prevention failures.

Open the original document or record ↗

United States v. Southwest Key Programs — complaint

U.S. Department of Justice · July 2024

The federal complaint states allegations about shelters housing unaccompanied minors. The civil action was later dismissed with prejudice.

Open the original document or record ↗

Missouri state petition concerning Agapé Boarding School

Missouri Attorney General and Department of Social Services · 2022

A verified state filing concerning reported conditions and allegations at a residential school.

Open the original document or record ↗

Attorney General report on three Massachusetts dioceses

Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General · September 2026

The report examines institutional responses to sexual abuse allegations. Its findings encompass mixed populations.

Open the original document or record ↗

Doe v. Yeshiva University — appellate decision

New York State Unified Court System · January 2026

A court opinion addressing claims arising from alleged abuse at a school for boys.

Open the original document or record ↗

New Hampshire YDC claims-administration materials

State of New Hampshire · July 2026

Official government materials concerning administration and funding of claims.

Open the original document or record ↗

Language and belief

The language that followed the boys

The words used to describe an abused boy can influence whether adults recognize what happened to him. A child called a runaway or a hustler may be treated as someone who chose the circumstances of his exploitation. Describing a sexually exploited child as a prostitute carries the same problem. It imports an adult category into a situation where the child’s age, dependence and ability to refuse must be examined.

The Boys Farm case in Tennessee shows how consequential that dependence can be. Former residents described sexual photography and access granted to adult sponsors, while one boy’s testimony connected his participation with the ability to remain housed at the Farm. Courts and welfare agencies had placed some children there. Their circumstances were documented in criminal proceedings and later reporting, and the question of consent cannot be separated from the conditions under which they were living. Read the Boys Farm investigation.

The death of fourteen-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone also belongs in an examination of how official assumptions can affect a boy’s safety. Witnesses sought help after encountering him, yet police returned him to Jeffrey Dahmer. The case is part of this publication’s examination of policing and the treatment of male victims. Read the earlier reporting.

Published data

How many boys are affected?

The prevalence estimates below measure experiences reported in research. The NCMEC figure measures reports made to a national tipline. They were produced for different populations and cannot be added together or used to calculate the number of boys represented on this map.

At least 1 in 20

U.S. boys

The CDC’s minimum estimate for childhood sexual abuse. The agency warns that delayed reporting and nonreporting mean prevalence is likely underestimated.

CDC · May 2024 ↗

About 1 in 6

U.S. boys

An estimate summarized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD. The difference from the CDC figure reflects variation across research sources and definitions.

VA National Center for PTSD ↗

50,000+

Financial-sextortion reports

NCMEC received more than 50,000 such reports in 2025. Teenage boys are frequently targeted, and covers incidents reported across children and teens without establishing a male-victim count.

NCMEC · June 2026 ↗

About this archive

The working source register contains 801 source-ledger entries or cross-references and 414 distinct exact URL strings, compiled from three different ledgers. Several documents appear in more than one entry. The separate screened roster contains 44 case entries, including international cases excluded from this U.S. directory. Neither figure verifies the individual points in the graphic or provides a national number of victims.

The map itself carries an unresolved count difference: the headline reads 1,286 while its category figures total 1,486. The original graphic is preserved above, with that limitation disclosed. The source bibliography below is a guide to public records and published references; it includes some international and mixed-population material for comparison.

Documentary sources

Read the records behind the reporting.

The October 2026 bibliography brings together court proceedings, official investigations, government publications and reporting concerning sexual abuse involving boys and institutional accountability. Each entry identifies the source and includes a direct link where available.

Its 54 pages distinguish U.S. case records from national inquiries and international comparative material. Charges, allegations and findings carry different evidentiary weight; the bibliography retains those distinctions.

Open the documentary bibliography (PDF) ↗
Preview the 54-page bibliography here