Judgment against doctor/Scoutmaster who abused boy: $120 million

A Jackson County judge has awarded $120 million in damages to the victim of Joseph T. Mackey, a former Scoutmaster and physician who inflicted years of sexual abuse while the victim was a boy under his care and supervision.

Mackey, 45, of Lee’s Summit, pleaded guilty to sexual assault last month and is in jail awaiting sentencing.

Circuit Judge Jack Grate ruled in the victim’s civil lawsuit Thursday that Mackey’s abuse was “outrageous by reason of evil motive and/or was committed with reckless indifference to the rights of others.”

Grate awarded $20 million in compensatory damages for the psychological harm Mackey caused and $100 million in punitive damages to “punish defendant and to deter defendant and others from sexually abusing minors.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/health-care/article177501736.html