SAN DIEGO -- The Boy Scouts nicknamed them the "perversion files," and thousands of those secret files about to be released could mean bombshell revelations of sexual abuse for San Diego.

William Knox, 65, is a former Boy Scout leader and Mormon Church elder. Starting in 1987, three brothers said Knox was molesting them -- sometimes during Boy Scout camping trips in the Bay Area.

Lisa Sapcoe, attorney for the brothers, said, "That would be his M.O. -- to sleep with them alone in a tent so he could inappropriately touch them."

Knox eventually married the boys' mother. Because the statute of limitations has expired, the three brothers have filed a civil suit.

Sapcoe plans to subpoena the records of the Mormon Temple and Boy Scouts in San Diego, but the most revealing files may come from an Oregon courtroom where a different civil suit has led the court-ordered release of thousands of Boy Scout files that document the sexual abuse of young boys by scout leaders over the decades.

"We are going to have fallout here (in San Diego)," said Paul Livingston, an advocate for San Diego-area survivors of priest abuse.

Livingston believes the impact of the secret files, much like the Catholic abuse scandal, could reverberate in San Diego.

"I personally know of more than a dozen people that have been abused in the Boy Scouts. Hopefully, the release of these files will expose the ones that haven't been exposed yet. That's instrumental in the recovery for the victims," said Livingston.

As for the lawsuit, Allen Ruby, who represents the Mormon Church, said, "Any allegation of childhood abuse is a serious matter, but this lawsuit contains a multitude of factual inaccuracies ... the Church will defend itself."

The local Boy Scouts did not respond to 10News' calls. Lawyers for the three brothers are asking anyone who has information on Knox to contact their law firm at 888-808-3226 or visit Armstrongetal.com.