A Ramsey County judge has denied a lawyer's request to make public a list of 1,500 Boy Scout leaders accused of misconduct against children.

Ramsey County District Judge Leonardo Castro ruled last week that he lacks jurisdiction to release the confidential list, which was compiled by the Boy Scouts and disclosed to attorneys under seal as part of a civil case settled in 2014.

Castro also ruled that attorney Jeff Anderson and his former client, a childhood victim of sexual abuse identified as John Doe 180 in court filings, lack standing in the case. That's because the parties reached a settlement and the court dismissed the case with prejudice in 2014, meaning it can't be brought back to court.

"While it is ... well known that predators rely on time and silence in an effort to escape accountability for their offenses," Castro wrote, "the egregious nature of the offense or potential future offense does not confer upon this court the authority that is otherwise denied by operation of law."

Last summer Anderson had sought the public release of the list, arguing it was in "the extraordinary interest of child protection." But the Boy Scouts refused to release the list, arguing it had settled the case with Anderson's client in 2014 and had provided information from the list to law enforcement.

Details of the settlement were never made public, nor was the identity of the victim.

Anderson, who had held onto the sealed list and its related files since 2014, was ordered to return them to the Boy Scouts within five days, according to the judge's order issued Oct. 1. He loaded them into a van and returned them on Monday. Video of the event was posted on his firm's Facebook page.

Shannon Prather • 651-925-5037