2 Priests Abused Sinajana Boy in Early 1970s
By Haidee Eugenio Gilbert
A lawsuit filed on Thursday afternoon says a Sinajana boy was sexually abused in the early 1970s by two now-deceased priests, including one who told the boy's mother that the molestation and attempted rape were not true. The plaintiff is identified in federal court documents only with the initials H.H.H. to protect his privacy,. In his $5 million lawsuit, H.H.H. said Father Louis Brouillard sexually abused him a few times around 1972 or 1973, and Father Antonio Cruz sexually molested and attempted to rape him once around 1973. H.H.H., represented by attorney David Lujan, said he was about 12 to 13 years old at the time of the priests' abuses. He said in his lawsuit that after at least four Boy Scouts of America swimming at Lonfit River, he became uncomfortable because Brouillard, a scoutmaster at the time, "encouraged, insisted, required and forced the boys to swim completely in the nude." The priest, according to the lawsuit, said these were for the purpose of teaching each boy to paddle with the hands and feet, while Brouillard touched and stroked each boy's private parts. H.H.H. said one day around 1973, his mother sent him to help Cruz clean the St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Sinajana by dusting and sweeping the pews, and by sweeping and mopping the floor. Before the boy could do his tasks, Cruz called him to the church offices. The priest began to rub the boy's thighs up to his private part with both hands and forcibly tried to pull the boy's pants down, which the boy interpreted as an attempt to rape him, the lawsuit says. H.H.H. was able to break free and ran to his house, not far from the church. Shortly after reaching home, his mother received a call from someone at the church requesting her to meet at the St. Fidelis Friary, the lawsuit says. The mother met with Cruz, while H.H.H. was made to sit and wait in the reception area. After the meeting, the mother told her son that Cruz accused him of lying about the priest touching the boy's thighs and private part, pulling his pants down and attempting to rape him, according to the lawsuit. The boy reiterated what the priest had done to him, the lawsuit says. "As a result of Brouillard's and Cruz's sexual abuse of plaintiff. plaintiff constantly engages in a guessing game of which priest is a pedophile," the lawsuit says. The Archdiocese of Agana sought bankruptcy protection in January to help settle clergy sex abuse claims, now more than 220 including H.H.H.'s lawsuit. The Capuchins, Boy Scouts of America and up to 50 defendants are among the defendants in the latest case. Reporter Haidee Eugenio Gilbert covers Guam's Catholic church issues, government, business and more. Follow her on Twitter @haidee_eugenio.
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