It is an understatement to say that the arrest of Dr. David Evanko, a respected local family physician and Boy Scout leader, sent shock waves through the community.

To most people, it would seem unfathomable that a man so versed in the do's and don'ts involved in patient care, as well as in the strict standards scouting maintains, through his many years of service with that organization, could have allowed himself to engage in the sordid activities of which he is accused.

He is charged with molesting two boys who he supervised as a scout leader over six years beginning in the late 1980s.

Still, the news columns on any given day provide many seemingly unbelievable scenarios that many times are proven to be true beyond a reasonable doubt and result in appropriate punishment.

Regarding Evanko, it is right to assume that most of his patients, as well as those with whom he worked in scouting scouts and other scout leaders are hoping that there is no truth whatsoever to the allegations that have been leveled against him. But it's also safe to say that Evanko's arrest has dealt a severe blow to some of those same people's confidence and sense of trust and is causing them to ponder what might have gone wrong, why, and when.

Investigators and the criminal justice system have the task of sorting out the allegations determining what is truth and what might be flawed recollections all within the context that Evanko remains innocent until proven guilty. Amid all of that, the community will remain saddened that such a situation has befallen it while at the same time maintaining a feeling of relief that, if what is being alleged did in fact occur, it will not go unpunished.

Beyond that is a serious task facing the Boy Scouts. If some of the alleged molestations occurred during scouting activities, the organization must determine the circumstances surrounding the breakdowns in the scouts' "two deep" leadership policy. That policy mandates that at least two adults be present with scouts at all times.

The Moraine Trails Boy Scout Council of Butler Township, with which Evanko volunteered his time, was right in acting quickly to revoke the doctor's membership, with the understanding that Evanko could apply for new membership if he's acquitted.

Unfortunately, even if he is found innocent, the stain on Evanko's reputation that the current charges represent would seem to preclude full restoration of confidence in him regarding any future scouting role.

It would be tragic if a person of such medical talent and willingness to volunteer for the benefit of young people were to be brought down by allegations and charges that ultimately were determined to be unfounded. But the circumstances in which Evanko finds himself must play themselves out on behalf of the community's best interests.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger is correct in exploring whether Evanko might have broken any federal law, since one of the molestation incidents with which the doctor is charged allegedly occurred in New Jersey.

Evanko, who is a medical director of Butler Medical Associates, a 12-doctor group, has been a scoutmaster, assistant scoutmaster and council board member since becoming affiliated with the Boy Scouts about 1985. He has won numerous scouting awards a record of service that seems so inconsistent with the charges against him.

Yet Evanko must be given the benefit of the doubt amid the cloud of suspicion that envelops him; again, he is innocent until proven guilty.

He was right in taking a voluntary leave of absence from the doctors group and the Butler Memorial Hospital medical staff until his case makes it way through the courts.

Beyond that, the doctor will have to make decisions based on the case's outcome and the future that he envisions for himself here.

The shock in the community that the case has evoked will not dissipate quickly. For the two victims who now are men about 30 years old the impact of the alleged incidents on which the charges are based likely will affect the rest of their lives.

They were courageous in coming forward at this time, but it would have been better if they had chosen to shed the weight of the alleged incidents must sooner.