'Abuse in the guise of swimming lesson': Another allegation against priest, Boy Scout master

By Haidee Eugenio Gilbert
Pacific Daily News
January 28, 2020

https://bit.ly/2Gqzxan

Father Louis Brouillard

More than 40 years ago, a Barrigada altar boy aspiring to be a member of the Boy Scouts of America joined an outing at Lonfit River where a priest fondled and groped his private parts, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday, Jan. 27.

The plaintiff, identified in federal court documents only with the initials R.G.M. to protect his privacy, said in his $5 million lawsuit that Father Louis Brouillard falsely claimed he was teaching him how to swim.

"This event was shocking to R.G.M. and because of this, he stopped being an altar boy and he also lost interest in joining the Boy Scouts of America," the lawsuit says.

R.G.M. was about 11 or 12 years old at the time, when Brouillard allegedly sexually abused him at the river, around 1977 or 1978. He was an altar boy at the San Vicente Ferrer and San Roke Catholic Church, while the priest was also a scout master.

According to the lawsuit, R.G.M. understood from the other boys that if the Boy Scouts removed their clothes and swam naked, they would receive free food from McDonald's, which R.G.M. did. 

R.G.M. is represented by attorney Michael Berman in his lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America and up to 50 other unnamed defendants. He's among the nearly 300 who filed clergy sex abuse lawsuits since 2016, which the Archdiocese of Agana is trying to settle under the bankruptcy process.