Moose director resigns; move follows Ohio lawsuit

COLUMBUS (AP) — The top official at the Loyal Order of Moose and the Moose International fraternal organizations has resigned one week after a lawsuit alleged he molested a boy more than 30 years ago in Ohio and Louisiana.

William Airey, the groups’ chief executive officer and director general, announced his decision to the Moose board Thursday, Moose spokesman Kurt Wehrmeister said today.

Airey’s decision was voluntary and was not forced by the board because of the lawsuit, Wehrmeister said. He promised a later statement but said it would not address the lawsuit or its allegations.

The Loyal Order of Moose is a unit of Moose International. Both are based in Aurora, Ill.

Airey, 71, has not commented on the lawsuit. A message left at his home today was not immediately returned.

The Dec. 13 lawsuit filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus by Jason Peck of South Carolina, a psychiatrist who practices in North Carolina, alleges that Airey began grooming him in 1980 to abuse him sexually. The abuse began that year in Ohio, when Peck was 12, and continued elsewhere, including New Orleans, the suit said.