Civil suits filed against church, clergy

By John O'connor
Guam Daily Post
November 2, 2016

http://www.postguam.com/news/local/civil-suits-filed-against-church-clergy/article_a3a506a4-a0dd-11e6-8b25-73af3f6f52ca.html

Attorney David Lujan expects four civil lawsuits to be filed next week in addition to the four that were filed on Nov. 1 by abuse victims Roland Sondia, Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton and Leo Tudela. The lawsuits were filed against Archbishop Anthony Apuron, the Archdiocese of Agana and former Guam priest Rev. Louis Brouillard. 

The lawsuits are part of at least a dozen suits expected to be filed over the next few weeks. The next four to be filed next week include a suit on behalf of the late Joseph "Sonny" Quinata and three victims who have not yet been named. Lujan said his clients were seeking monetary damages but they have not yet stated the amount. 

"Until the case progresses then we'll decide what it is that we're asking for," Lujan said.

Quintanilla, Denton, Sondia and Doris Concepcion - on behalf of Quinata, her son - are also plaintiffs in a separate libel and slander lawsuit against Apuron and the archdiocese. The four are seeking damages of $500,000 each in that suit and Lujan said the intention was to move forward with it.

The defendants in the libel and slander suit filed a motion to dismiss in September, but Lujan said he filed a motion in opposition on Oct. 20. A response from the defendants is expected on a Friday, either this week or next week, according to Lujan.

Public Law 33-187 lifted the statute of limitations on cases of child abuse and opened the door for civil action against individuals who perpetrated the act years ago. With the exception of Tudela, all the men who have come forward as victims so far have stated that they were abused by Apuron in the 1970s. Tudela is the oldest of the victims at 73 years old, and stated that he was abused by Brouillard in the 1950s.

The archdiocese was initially against the enactment of the law amid concerns that it would lead to financial pitfalls for the church. But Lujan, in a statement to media on Nov. 1, stated that the lawsuits will not result in the destruction of the Catholic Church on Guam.

"The church has outlived every empire and civil government known to man," Lujan said. "The church will reform itself and become even greater."

Archdiocese statement

Shortly after the complaints were filed and made public, the archdiocese issued a statement of its own.

"The Archdiocese of Agana takes the issue of sexual abuse very seriously. We are taking specific steps to address this issue including the establishment of a Victim Support Group and the setting up of a trust fund to address the needs of the survivors of clergy sexual abuse," the release stated.

"The Archdiocese has established this expanded Support Group for victims to receive free counseling, to do whatever is necessary to help to heal the suffering and to bring closure as much as possible. This will all be confidential and private. Again, please contact your pastor or priest, or you may contact the Support Group by calling Sexual Abuse Response Coordinator Deacon Len Stohr at this private number: 727-7373."

Lujan said it was not just individuals from the Catholic Church that would be sued, however. He added that he was aware of at least one victim that had been abused by a private school teacher. Moreover, in Tudela's case, the Boy Scouts is mentioned but not named as a defendant. Lujan said Brouillard was not just a clergyman but the scout master of Guam during his time on island.

"Some of the victims that will be coming forward were members of the Boy Scouts, they were not altar boys," Lujan said.

The victims he was representing were all abused within private institutions, he added.