More than one year after filing for bankruptcy, the Boy Scouts of America late Thursday offered to set up an $850 million fund to compensate tens of thousands of victims who were sexually abused at BSA facilities and events, USA Today reports.

Nearly 90,000 individuals had filed complaints before the window to join the class action lawsuit closed, making it the largest number of sexual assault complaints against a single national organization.  (While the Catholic church faced innumerable lawsuits for sexual abuse, those were typically filed against local parishes or dioceses, not a national organization.)  When the abuse scandal hit national media, in February 2020, 275 lawsuits had been filed and about 1,800 victims had come forward.  Currently, 82,000 abuse survivors are part of the suit.

The $850 million offer, made to a coalition of groups representing victims, more than doubles the previous amount offered by the Boy Scouts.  The offer has to be approved by both the victims coalition and the bankruptcy court.

“This initial settlement of $850 million is the largest settlement of sexual abuse claims in United States history,” said Ken Rothweiler, a lawyer representing a group of survivors, said in a statement. “I am pleased that both the BSA and their local councils have stepped up to be the first to compensate the survivors.”

There is some controversy with the offer because more than $600 million of the settlement will have to be paid by local Boy Scout councils, who own a significant amount of property and assets within the Boy Scout coalition.  A 2017 estimate by USA Today put the net value of the Boy Scouts at $3.7 billion.

As another part of the settlement, the Boy Scouts agreed to turn over all files it and its local councils have documenting accusations of sexual abuse.