Clergy Abuse Cases Won't Be Dismissed from Local Courts

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
February 3, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/02/03/clergy-abuse-cases-wont-dismissed-local-courts/97435424/

Superior Court Judge Arthur R. Barcinas this week granted the Archdiocese of Agana’s request for more time to respond to lawsuits which accuse Catholic clergy of sexually abusing and raping former altar boys.

The judge also stated that the cases will not be dismissed in the Superior Court of Guam, even though 12 of the 15 clergy abuse lawsuits filed in local court had also been filed in the U.S. District Court of Guam as of Thursday afternoon. Attorneys representing the former altar boys have said they started filing the cases in federal court because eight Superior Court judges recused themselves. The judges cited conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest.

Arthur Barcinas (Photo: PDN file photo)

In his Feb. 2 order, Barcinas gave the archdiocese, through counsel John C. Terlaje, 20 days from the issuance of the order to respond to the lawsuits filed in local court.

5 more clergy abuse lawsuits filed in federal court

Barcinas' written order came a few hours after a hearing attended by archdiocese counsel John Terlaje, along with attorney Gloria Lujan Rudolph representing the alleged clergy abuse survivors, and attorney Jacqueline Terlaje, representing Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron.

Jacqueline Terlaje told the judge during the hearing that her client, Apuron, was given until March 21 to file a response to the complaints.

Apuron has been accused of sexually abusing four former altar boys in Agat in the 1970s. Apuron, Guam’s archbishop for nearly 31 years, is also undergoing a canonical trial at the Vatican related to the sex abuse allegations.

Judges' recusals detailed

Barcinas has filed six disqualification notices, recusing himself from hearing six of the clergy abuse cases. He stated that his late uncle, Deacon Jeff Barcinas, appears to have been secretarial staff to Apuron during a potentially relevant period.

The latest former altar boy to file a clergy abuse lawsuit in federal court is Vicente T. San Nicolas, 59, who alleged that former island priest Louis Brouillard sexually abused him from about 1970 to 1975 when he was an altar boy and a member of the Boy Scouts of America.

Brouillard, who still gets financial support from the archdiocese, has admitted publicly that he abused at least 20 altar boys when he was on Guam, which was between the late 1940s to 1981.

Each of the 12 clergy sex abuse lawsuit filed in federal court demands a jury trial and at least $5 million in general damages, for a combined minimum total of $60 million, plus attorney’s fees and other costs. All former altar boys that filed lawsuits are represented by the law firm of Lujan and Wolff.

Contact: heugenio@guampdn.com