Man Alleges Sex Abuse on Boy Scout Camping Trips
By Haidee V Eugenio
A man who filed the latest Guam clergy sexual abuse lawsuit said Wednesday he feared, as a child, that his devout Catholic parents wouldn't believe him if he told them a priest he only knew as "Father Louis" was sexually abusing him during Boy Scout camping trips around 1972. Now 58, the man identified in court documents only as "R.B." in order to protect his privacy, said he's not sure if he will ever forgive former priest Louis Brouillard for what he did to him and his fellow scouts. "How can I forgive if I can't forget about it?" R.B. said in a phone interview from Hawaii, where he now lives. He said he has only one thing to say about Brouillard at this time: "May God have mercy on his soul." R.B. is the 43rd person to file a Guam clergy sex abuse lawsuit in local and federal court, alleging that Brouillard entered his camping tent on at least two separate occasions and sexually abused him, along with another scout he was sharing his tent with. He filed his lawsuit in the Superior Court of Guam Wednesday morning. R.B. is represented by attorney Kevin Fowler, of the Guam law firm of Dooley Roberts Fowler & Visosky LLP, which has partnered with the U.S.-based law firm of Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC. ?“We make sure that each person who contacts us knows that we are willing to do whatever we can to protect their identity," Fowler said in a statement. He said it's likely more lawsuits will be filed in which the plaintiff’s identity is protected. R.B. said he was only about 13or 14 years old when Brouillard sexually abused him. But he said he never told anyone else about it because Brouillard, as a Catholic priest, was highly regarded and respected in the community. "I thought about it a million times but I was scared to tell them, especially my mom. She's a die-hard Catholic. If I tell her a priest did that to me, I don't think she would believe me," R.B. said. Brouillard, now at least 95 years old and living in Minnesota, has publicly admitted to sexually abusing more than 20 boys when he was a priest on Guam. While a priest in the Archdiocese of Agana, Brouillard also served as a scout master for the Boy Scouts of America Aloha Council, which has jurisdiction over Guam or the Chamorro District. The lawsuit named the Archdiocese of Agana, the Boy Scouts of America, the Boy Scouts of America Aloha Council Chamorro District and Brouillard as defendants, along with up to 10 others who may have concealed or covered up the abuses. The complaint alleges that in the early 1970s, R.B. and his family were parishioners at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Inarajan. Because the church didn't have a Boy Scout Troop of its own, R.B. said he joined Boy Scout Troop 24, which he said was sponsored by San Isidro Parish in Malojloj. R.B. alleged Brouillard would take him and other scouts on camping trips. On at least two of those trips, Brouillard sexually abused him, the lawsuit states. R.B. alleged the abuse occurred around 1972 or 1973. The 17-page complaint also alleges Brouillard offered R.B. a ride when the priest saw him walking down the street, andfter R.B. got into the vehicle, Brouillard opened his robe and exposed himself. For about 45 years, he kept the abuse a secret, even to his wife, who died years ago. He said when Gov. Eddie Calvo last year signed a bill into law that allows childhood sexual abuse victims to sue their perpetrator and the entities that represent them, he started considering coming forward. He said he still feels ashamed to talk about the sexual abuse he went through, especially to his deceased wife's children. "I'm kind of ashamed because they look up to me as a man who has a lot of pride," he added. Contact: heugenio@guampdn.com
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