Church Operated "Harem of Young Boys"

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
February 22, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/02/22/lawsuits-church-operated-harem-young-boys/98240406/

The District Court of Guam is shown in this Jan. 25, 2017, file photo.

Four more former altar boys filed separate federal lawsuits Wednesday, alleging that former island priest Louis Brouillard sexually molested them repeatedly when they were children in the 1970s, bringing to 22 the total number of clergy sexual abuse cases filed on Guam.

The Archdiocese of Agana now faces a minimum $110 million in damages in connection with the lawsuits.

The four former altar boys, represented by Attorney David Lujan, said Brouillard also sexually abused them during Boy Scouts of America activities. Brouillard was scoutmaster in the Guam chapter.

Albino T. Bascon, now 54 and living in California, alleged that Brouillard sexually molested and abused him from 1973 through 1976. That’s when he was an altar boy at San Isidro Catholic Church of Malojloj and a Boy Scout member.

Roque Flores, now a 54-year-old Barrigada resident, said Brouillard sexually molested and abused him when he was an altar boy at San Vicente/San Roke Catholic Church in Barrigada at the age of about 13 to 15, from about 1975 to 1977.

Johnny T. Bascon, now living in North Carolina, said he was about 10 to 15 years old when Brouillard sexually abused him. Bascon, now 56, said he was an altar boy at San Isidro Catholic Church in Malojloj, where Brouillard was priest.

Benny T. Manglona, now 59, of Inarajan, said Brouillard sexually abused and molested him when he was a Boy Scout member and altar boy at San Isidro Catholic Church in Malojloj around 1970 to 1971.

The lawsuits state the routine practice of having altar boys stay overnight, “served the predatory priests with a steady supply of victims under the auspices and pretense of formal church protocol, which allowed the church to continually operate a veritable harem of young boys who were readily available to pedophiles who utilized the stature of the church into deceiving the community to regard them as high-level officials.”

Contact: heugenio@guampdn.com