Washington: The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in what it said was an effort to safeguard compensation payouts for sexual abuse victims. The organization has been accused of covering up generations of abuse inflicted on thousands of its young members and failing to do enough to root out pedophiles using the youth movement to prey on minors over its 110-year history.

Bankruptcy proceedings will help the Boy Scouts to "equitably compensate" victims through the establishment of a victims' compensation trust and allow the organization to continue at a local level, a statement from the group said. "The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting," chief executive Roger Mosby said in the statement.