Troop 137 was a Boy Scout troop chartered in eastern New Orleans in 1974 by three men: [[Richard Halvorsen]], [[Raymond Woodall]], and [[Robert Lang]]. Around forty boys from low income families were recruited into the troop, from which approximately ten boys aged between eight and twelve were groomed and supplied as boy prostitutes to a network of wealthy clients across the United States. The troop's exposure in September 1976 revealed a child pornography and prostitution operation linked to [[John David Norman]]'s [[Delta Project]] in Chicago and the [[Hermes]] newsletter.[^1] The case broke when film reels of child pornography discovered by technicians in a broken down commercial film processing machine in Dallas were traced to an assistant scoutmaster named Harry O'Cramer. Boys from the troop and their scoutmasters were subsequently identified engaging in sex acts on the discovered film, leading to the arrest of Halvorsen, Woodall, and Lang. Further investigation revealed Halvorsen and Woodall had previously worked at a private children's school in Florida called Adelphi Academies, owned by [[Peter Bradford]]. The pair moved to New Orleans in the early 1970s and were approved as juvenile probationary officers, using these positions to access and reactivate case files on juvenile offenders to leverage against their families with scholarship offers to attend the Adelphi Academy in Florida. At least six boys from New Orleans had been trafficked to Florida for sex and pornography.[^1] ### Clients and the Escort Service Among those charged as clients were a millionaire from California named [[Robert B. Mallers]], a Boston real estate mogul named [[Hugh Mellor]], and a Boston financier named [[Richard C. Jacobs]], who was a minority-owner of the New England Patriots NFL team. An associate of Raymond Woodall named [[Lewis Sialle]], who had been given an immunity deal to testify, claimed under oath that District Attorney [[Harry Connick]] had been the lover of a boy pornographer named [[John Reed Campbell]], a fugitive wanted in connection to the Troop 137 case. Sialle alleged: "I knew that Harry Connick was involved with John Campbell as his lover, and there was a cover-up." Campbell was a prime suspect from the beginning, with victims telling police they were introduced to the Troop 137 leaders at Campbell's residence after posing as models in "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer" portraits Campbell had painted of them.[^1] Woodall had also operated an escort service that initially used adult prostitutes but transitioned to using children from Troop 137, with Sialle testifying: "The service started out using adults, but they began ripping off the customers. That's when Woodall said we could use the kids. They'll get $50, a good meal and all that jazz." Halvorsen, Woodall, and O'Cramer all received lengthy prison terms. Robert Lang was the only key figure to avoid prison, with the State Department of Corrections putting in a good word with the judge on his behalf, recommending probation in view of his "minimal involvement" and describing Lang as of "high moral character."[^1] ### Connections to Broader Networks An FBI memo from February 1977 confirmed the [[Delta Project]] connection to Troop 137 in New Orleans and noted that Norman's conviction in December 1976 ended an ongoing investigation into the Delta Project, which had continued to operate under [[Phillip Paske]]. A letter sent by [[Cladius Vermilye]] to Halvorsen personally inviting him to visit [[Father Bud's Boys Farm]] in Tennessee established the link between Troop 137 and the wider interlinked network of operations. Don Berlage, a district attorney in Charlevoix County, Michigan, was also connected to the case through the broader network.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). *Eye of the Chickenhawk*. United States: Thehotstar.