BishopAccountability.org

Attorney: Former priest photographed 50 altar boys and their private parts

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
August 9, 2016

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/08/09/attorney-former-priest-photographed-50-altar-boys-and-their-private-parts/88439760/


[with video]

A former priest who admitted to sexually abusing altar boys in Guam decades ago took photographs of about 50 boys and their private parts in the 1950s, according to a lawyer representing alleged victims of clergy abuse.

The Rev. Louis Brouillard, now 95, said he’s seeking forgiveness from former altar boys he sexually abused in Guam, where he was a priest from the late 1940s to 1981.

Other alleged victims of Brouillard, now in their 70s, have come forward to talk about the photographs, said attorney David Lujan, who represents several people who have accused local clergy, including Archbishop Anthony Apuron, of sexual abuse and rape.

Brouillard, who now lives in Minnesota, said he does not remember the names of the boys, including Leo Tudela, who publicly accused Brouillard as one of three church members who abused him as an altar boy in Guam, starting in 1956.

Tudela testified about the assaults during a public hearing Aug. 1 on a bill that would make it easier for victims to sue by lifting the statute of limitations on some crimes.

Brouillard said he’s been doing penance for more than 30 years.

Tudela, now a 73-year-old Hawaii resident, said he is aware Brouillard admitted to sexually abusing altar boys, but he declined to comment on the former priest’s confession.

During his testimony earlier this month, Tudela said Brouillard roused him from his sleep one night in 1956, at the Santa Teresita Church rectory in Mangilao, by touching and massaging his private parts.

Brouillard served as pastor, parish priest and administrator at different churches and Catholic schools in Guam, including Saint Jude Thaddeus in Sinajana, San Vicente Ferrer in Barrigada, Santa Teresita in Mangilao, Father Duenas School and Seminary in Chalan Pago-Ordot/Mangilao, and St. William Church in Tumon Bay.

Lujan said while Brouillard may not necessarily remember the names of his victims, his admission of sexually abusing altar boys gives more credence to Tudela’s testimony as well as statements to Lujan by other former Mangilao altar boys.

"He may not remember Leo specifically but he remembers abusing altar boys," Lujan said. "It shows that Leo was truthful, and that Brouillard abused kids like Leo. Brouillard took over 50 photos of 50 boys and their (private parts)."

Lujan said he believes Brouillard is repentant because of his age.

"He knows he's near death so I think he needs to forgive himself for what he did. That's why the priest is receptive to be interviewed. Just like the victims of the abuses, the priest needs to get this off his chest to be able to begin the healing process,” Lujan said. “Brouillard needed to get this out, especially before his death. He's confessing. And I think that he's hoping he will be forgiven by all his victims even though he doesn't remember their names.”

Lujan also represents four other people who since May have publicly accused Archbishop Apuron of sexually abusing altar boys in Agat in the 1970s.

When asked whether Tudela has forgiven Brouillard, Lujan said the priest has not directly apologized to him.

In 1985, four years after he left Guam, Brouillard was removed from his position at the Diocese of Duluth, in Minnesota, after he was credibly accused of sexual abuse.

Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, the temporary administrator of the Catholic church in Guam, said he does not have a response to the newspaper’s question as to why the Archdiocese of Agana did not move to laicize or defrock Brouillard 30 years ago.

As a retired priest, Brouillard receives a monthly stipend of $550 from the Archdiocese of Agana.

The world’s largest network of clergy abuse survivors said it is not surprising that more victims in Guam have come forward in recent months because of the bravery of other victims and the support of the community.

“For many years, it was not safe or healthy for victims of clergy sex abuse to speak out on Guam. They were personally attacked by Archbishop (Anthony) Apuron and they feared that they would not be believed," said Joelle Casteix, Western regional director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. "But now, because of the bravery of other victims and Catholics, victims can come forward and find support from the community.”

Guam’s Catholic church on Friday apologized to Brouillard’s victims in Guam, but the church has been unable to provide any information about the status of the Apuron investigation. Hon has said he does not know where Apuron is.

Apuron has not been charged with any crime.

SNAP’s Casteix said she believes the Vatican will not release any information it has about Apuron, “unless they are forced to do so by the courts.”

“That is why it is so vitally important to change the law on Guam and allow victims to hold accountable their abusers and the institutions that cover up them. Until then, victims and Catholics will most likely continue to be stonewalled by both Hon and the Vatican. It is not in the Vatican's interests to come clean about Apuron. So they won’t come clean,” said Casteix.

Tudela, during his testimony, said he was also sexually abused by a church brother — a term referring a man who is part of a religious community but who’s not ordained — at the Capuchin Fathers Monastery in Agana Heights. The alleged abuser later was identified as Brother Mariano B. Laniyo, who left the Order in Guam and went back to Saipan, where he died years ago.




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