Man alleges Saipan's bishop emeritus raped him

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
February 13, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/02/13/man-alleges-saipans-bishop-emeritus-raped-him/97841126/

Tomas A. Camacho

Tomas A. Camacho, Saipan’s bishop emeritus,  has been accused of raping and sexually abusing a former altar boy on Guam from about 1971 to 1974. The accusations are part of the 17th clergy sex abuse case filed in Guam's federal court since January.

In the complaint, Melvin Duenas, now a 55-year-old resident of Yona, said former Guam priest Louis Brouillard also abused him. Brouillard publicly admitted in 2016​ that he sexually abused more than 20 altar boys when he was on Guam, his home from the late 1940s to 1981.

Camacho was bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa from 1984 until his retirement in April 2010 at the age of 76. He has since served as bishop emeritus.

Duenas filed a lawsuit on Monday in the U.S. District of Guam, alleging Camacho sexually abused and raped him multiple times from approximately 1971 to 1974, when Camacho was priest at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Inarajan.

In the complaint, Duenas said he ran away from the church to escape from the rape and sexual molestation between 1974 and 1975, and never saw Camacho again.

In or about 2006 or 2007, Duenas said he tried to contact Camacho in an effort to seek closure.

“Melvin wrote notes, left his telephone number, and emailed the cathedral in Saipan but Melvin received no response, even to this date,” the complaint states. Duenas is represented by David Lujan, of the law firm of Lujan and Wolff.

As of press time, the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa on Saipan hadn't provided comment, either by phone or email.

Duenas said in the complaint that at the time he lived at the church rectory, where Camacho resided.

“During the period in which Melvin (Duenas) was living at the Inarajan Rectory, Melvin was repeatedly sexually molested and raped by Camacho,” the complaint states. The document adds the sexual abuse “happened on almost a nightly basis.”

Duenas was also required to occasionally serve Mass as an altar boy at San Isidro Catholic Church of Malojloj, where Brouillard was a priest. The sexual abuse also happened during Boy Scouts of America weekend activities, the complaint stated. Brouillard was a Boy Scout master for Guam.

The latest clergy sex abuse lawsuit, just like the 16 others previously filed, demands a jury trial and a minimum $5 million in damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs. All the lawsuits were filed by clients of Lujan.

The lawsuit also names as defendant the Archdiocese of Agana, which the complaint says is an entity under the Holy See at the Vatican in Rome, and up to 50 other unnamed individuals who may have abetted, aided, concealed or covered up the clergy abuse cases.