Two New Complaints
By Neil Pang
With the filing of two more complaints Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Agana now faces a total of nine civil suits filed with the Superior Court of Guam that allege, among other things, child sexual abuse by priests of local parishes. The first complaint, from 63-year-old Chalan Pago resident Paul Joseph Borja, stated that Borja was molested by a local parish priest when he was serving as an altar boy at the Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Church in 1965. In court documents filed Wednesday, Borja alleges that the now-deceased Rev. Antonio C. Cruz, who served as a priest for the Chalan Pago Parish at the time, molested and abused him. The allegations presented in the suit state that Rev. Cruz had obtained permission from Borja's mother for Borja to meet Cruz at his residence on the second floor of the Chalan Pago Parish. According to court documents, the events that transpired that night constituted sexual abuse that included Cruz performing oral copulation on the then-12-year-old Borja. The complaint added that three years later in 1968, after Borja's family had moved to California, Cruz joined Borja's family for dinner at their California residence. After dinner, Borja states that Cruz asked for Borja to accompany him on a walk around the neighborhood. Court documents state that because Borja's family was unaware of the history of sexual abuse, Borja agreed to go out of courtesy. During their walk, Borja claims that Cruz handed him an envelope that he later found to contain $50 in what he assumed to be hush money. Fourth complaint against Brouillard The second new suit was filed by 59-year-old Dededo resident Vicente San Nicolas, and is the fourth similar complaint to be leveled against Rev. Louis Brouillard. Brouillard, 95, is a retired Roman Catholic priest who now resides in Minnesota. Brouillard has publicly admitted to sexually abusing boys under his care as both a parish priest and a Scout Master for the local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America, in both letters and a video statement. San Nicolas states that he was abused between the years of 1970 and 1975, when he was 13 to 18 years old and an altar boy at the San Isidro Catholic Church of Malojloj where Brouillard was a parish priest. According to court documents, Brouillard obtained permission from San Nicolas' parents for San Nicolas to spend the night, on multiple occasions, at his residence at the Carmelite Monastery Convent in Malojloj. When at the Malojloj monastery for those occasions, San Nicolas states that Brouillard would walk around naked and subject him to viewing sessions of his collections of nude photos of young boys that were taken by Brouillard and developed in his dark room. Further, San Nicolas said that whenever he slept over at the monastery, Brouillard molested and abused him. San Nicolas stated that he would tell Brouillard "no" during these episodes, but that Brouillard would goad and manipulate San Nicolas into submission by reassuring him and saying that, "it was okay; I'm not going to hurt you." San Nicolas added that it was his belief that Brouillard also abused San Nicolas' now-deceased brother, who accompanied him to Brouillard's residence on several occasions. The complaint further claims that Brouillard's sexual abuse practices extended to his duties as a Scout Master with the Boy Scouts of America where, during weekly outings, Brouillard abused San Nicolas, who attended many of the Boy Scout activities. 'Do better and say prayers' Lastly, San Nicolas' complaint states that he told Deacon Jeff Barcinas about his victimization, but that Barcinas told him only that "there was nothing we could do." San Nicolas stated that others within the Archdiocese of Agana, including Bishop Apollinaris Baumgartner, were aware of Brouillard's actions, but did nothing to stop the abuse or to bring the responsible parties to justice. Brouillard has since admitted to claims of sexual abuse, though he states that both time and the sheer number of boys that he abused prevented him from stating the exact number of boys that he abused during his time on Guam. Brouillard added in his Oct. 3 letter that he confessed to then Bishop Baumgartner, who told him to "do better and say prayers as a penance." The two suits filed by Borja and San Nicolas join seven other suits that level similar accusations against others within the Archdiocese of Agana, including Archbishop Anthony Apuron. To date, four individuals including Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton, Roland Sondia and Mary Jane Quinata Cruz have served the archdiocese and Apuron, while an additional four including Leo Tudela, Vicente Perez, Bruce Diaz and Vicente San Nicolas, have served the archdiocese and Brouillard. Paul Borja joined the eight other plaintiffs in filing his suit against the archdiocese and others complicit in the covering up of the alleged abuse.
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