Former Boy Scouts volunteer pleads not guilty to 17 sex counts

Amanda Pitts

WAKEFIELD, R.I. (WLNE) – A former Boy Scouts assistant chaplain was arraigned in Washington County Superior Court Monday on over a dozen sex counts.

James Glawson, now 75, was indicted on Friday on 16 counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of possession of child pornography.

Glawson pleaded not guilty and was ordered to continue being held without bail at the ACI.

The Exeter native is accused of sexually assaulting five former Boy Scouts between 1981 and 1987. He’s also accused of sexually assaulting a person he knew was mentally disabled between January of 2018 and February of 2019.

According to Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office, the assaults took place in Exeter, Richmond, and South Kingstown.

Glawson was first affiliated with the Boy Scouts back in 1980, and Rhode Island State Police said he volunteered as an assistant Catholic chaplain and Eucharistic minister from 2012 to 2018 at Yawgoog Scout Reservation in Hopkinton.

Tim McCandless, CEO of the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America said to ABC6 in a statement Monday, “The behaviors being prosecuted in this case are appalling and completely unacceptable.  The safety and protection of children in all Scouting programs continues to be our top priority and any case of abuse is one too many.”

McCandless said, the Scouts work to prevent child abuse through a comprehensive program, which includes:

  • a formal leader selection process that includes criminal background checks and other screening
  • procedures such as mandating two-deep leadership and prohibiting one-on-one situations where adults would interact with children
  • mandatory youth protection education
  • mandatory reporting of any allegation or suspicion of abuse
  • use of a database system to prevent individuals from reregistering in Scouting who were removed because they do not meet the BSA’s standards or because of known or suspected abuse or other misconduct

Glawson will be back in court for a pre-trial conference on January 15, 2020.

© WLNE-TV 2019

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