The lawyer for a South Carolina man who filed a lawsuit against Moose International Director General and CEO William Airey, claiming Airey sexually abused him as a boy, said his client decided to come forward after the recent sex abuse allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

“He felt an obligation to come forward to protect other kids,” said Ohio-based attorney Konrad Kircher, who represents Jason Peck, 44, of Fort Mill, S.C. Sandusky was convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys and is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence.

Peck filed the suit Thursday in Franklin County court in Ohio against Airey, 71, who lives in Aurora. According to the lawsuit, Airey is accused of sexually abusing, molesting and exploiting Peck on two occasions when Peck was a minor. The abuse began in Ohio and continued elsewhere, including in New Orleans, in or about 1980 when Peck was 12, the suit states.