Cadets Arts & Entertainment, which is the parent organization of a longtime drum and bugle corps which was known as the Allentown Cadets, is filing for bankruptcy.
CAE filed for voluntary chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, according to a news release Tuesday from the organization.
The organization said it filed for bankruptcy as a result of, among other factors, a sexual abuse lawsuit that was filed in September 2020, six months after CAE was formed. The lawsuit names, among other defendants, CAE and alleges that an incident occurred on December 31, 1982, at an unofficial event of the Garfield Cadets.
"CAE is compassionate to anyone who has experienced assault of any form. CAE has also vigorously defended the case. In response to motions to dismiss, the court found that plaintiff-stated causes of action require CAE and all successor organizations to defend this suit," CAE said in the news release.
"Despite good faith efforts to resolve the case, CAE was unable to do so," and CAE’s insurance carrier rejected CAE’s request to provide coverage to fund defense costs or a judgment from the alleged incident, CAE said.
"It has become financially impossible to continue defending the case given the unknown and crippling financial strain the case has created and the impact of any potential judgment levied on CAE," CAE said in the news release.
The situation led to the decision by the CAE Board of Directors to end CAE and The Cadets program, according to the news release.
"Unfortunately, the necessity of chapter 7 bankruptcy means that The Cadets will never return to the marching arts competition field again or risk arriving back where CAE is today," the organization said.
CAE said it will continue to exist as a legal entity throughout the duration of the bankruptcy process, though it will no longer have active operations. Alumni volunteers will continue to coordinate alumni social activities.
The Cadets Hall of Fame process will resume in 2025 after a pause in 2024, allowing for the current circumstances, according to the news release.
The Cadets drum and bugle corps, which started in Garfield, New Jersey, had called Allentown home since 2004. The decision for the drum and bugle corps to head west in 2023 followed some tense years for the drum corps. The Cadets former director, George Hopkins, was charged with sexual assault in 2018.
He later pleaded no-contest to a misdemeanor count of sexual assault.
The Cadets later separated from Allentown's Youth Education in the Arts following the sex abuse scandal and formed its own nonprofit. The drama casted a negative spotlight on the organization but Vicki Ferrence Ray, who was the Executive Director, says that wasn't a factor in the decision to move.
