Former Guam Priest Brouillard Abused Boy in Guise of Teaching Him How to Swim
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Former Guam priest Louis Brouillard, around 1977 or 1978, sexually abused a Barrigada altar boy under the pretense of teaching him how to swim during a Boy Scouts of America outing at the Lonfit River, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in local court. The plaintiff, identified in court documents as T.H.Q. to protect his privacy, said in his lawsuit that he was around 10 or 11 at the time the parish priest sexually abused him on church grounds and during scouting events. Now 50 years old, T.H.Q. demands a jury trial and $5 million in minimum damages. He is represented by attorney Michael Berman. On approximately five occasions at the Lonfit River, Brouillard would swim naked and routinely instructed T.H.Q. and the other boys to swim naked with him, the lawsuit says. Brouillard was the Guam scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America at the time. "Under the pretense of teaching T.H.Q. how to swim, Brouillard would grope and touch T.H.Q.'s private parts and anus," the complaint states. 'Other boys taught how to swim in the same manner' This would make the boy "very uncomfortable," and Brouillard recognized this, the lawsuit says. The priest tried to calm down T.H.Q. by saying this was normal behavior, "that he should relax, and that he taught other young boys how to swim in the same manner," the lawsuit adds. In his complaint, T.H.Q. said the abuses also included inappropriate and suggestive touching in the shoulder area, and that Brouillard walked around naked in front of altar boys in the priest's room in Barrigada before Mass. The complaint says Brouillard suggested the plaintiff look at magazines that appeared to be pornographic in nature. The priest also induced T.H.Q. and other boys into compliance by treating them to McDonald's, the lawsuit says. Brouillard quietly lives in Minnesota T.H.Q. named as defendants Brouillard, the Archdiocese of Agana and the Boy Scouts of America, among others. Brouillard, now a 96-year-old retired priest quietly living in Minnesota, publicly admitted in 2016 that he sexually abused boys when he was on Guam. He still receives a $550 stipend from the Guam archdiocese each month. Brouillard is one of the Archdiocese of Agana's former and current clergy named in more than 170 clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed in local and federal courts since 2016. The parties are pursuing mediation to try to settle the cases out of court
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