Richard Halvorsen

Richard Halvorsen served as a scout leader in New Orleans, associated with Troop 137. He worked alongside other leaders including Harry O'Cramer, an assistant scoutmaster. Boys from Troop 137 participated in activities under the supervision of Halvorsen and his colleagues, which later came under scrutiny due to illicit involvement. Halvorsen's role in the troop positioned him in a position of authority over young boys, facilitating access that was exploited in criminal enterprises.¹

Criminal Activities

In September 1976, film reels containing child pornography were discovered by technicians in a malfunctioning commercial film processing machine in Dallas, Texas, and traced back to Harry O'Cramer in New Orleans, revealing involvement of Troop 137 boys and their scoutmasters, including Halvorsen, in depicted sex acts. Halvorsen participated in a boy prostitution ring that operated through the scout troop, producing and distributing explicit materials featuring minors. The operation connected to broader networks, including Father Bud's Boys Farm in Tennessee run by Cladius Vermilye, where juveniles were drugged and coerced into orgies for filming and sponsorship by paying clients, with Halvorsen's activities in New Orleans feeding into similar exploitation patterns involving John David Norman's international contacts.¹

Legal Outcome

Halvorsen was arrested in September 1976 alongside fellow scout leaders Raymond Woodall and Robert Lang following the identification of participants on the child pornography films from the Dallas discovery. The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Harry Connick in New Orleans, who became implicated himself through testimony from one of his witnesses during court proceedings. The arrests exposed the depth of the child trafficking network tied to Troop 137, leading to convictions for the involved parties in the boy prostitution and pornography ring.¹