5 New Clergy Sex Abuse Suits Name Cepeda, Brouillard

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
July 13, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/07/13/5-new-clergy-sex-abuse-suits-name-cepeda-brouillard/474699001/

Father Raymond Cepeda is shown in this June 5, 2004 file photo.

Five new Guam clergy sex abuse cases were filed in federal court Thursday, accusing former priest Louis Brouillard and defrocked priest Raymond Cepeda of molesting boys decades ago.

The five plaintiffs, represented by attorney David Lujan, bring to 91 the total number of childhood sexual abuse lawsuits filed so far in local or federal courts against the Archdiocese of Agana. Priests, the Boy Scouts of America and other entities are also listed as defendants in the lawsuits.

Plaintiffs identified in court documents only as N.P.J.D. and B.B.J., to protect their privacy, alleged that Cepeda abused them. They demand a jury trial and $5 million in minimum damages each.

N.P.J.D., now 50, said he was 12 or 13 around 1979 or 1980 when Cepeda molested him. The boy was a student at Santa Barbara Catholic School in Dededo, according to the lawsuit.

B.B.J., now 48, was about 13 on the day of his grandmother's funeral, and Cepeda abused him in the car as they drove to the cemetery, according to the complaint.

Plaintiffs W.E.T., R.W.J., and P.P.R. all accuse Brouillard of sexual abuse and molestation, demanding $10 million in minimum damage each.

The three alleged that Brouillard abused and molested them either on parish grounds or at Boy Scouts of America outings. Brouillard served as a scout master for the Boy Scouts Aloha Council Chamorro District while he was a priest for the archdiocese.

R.W.J., now 53, said he was about 6 around 1970 when Brouillard started abusing him while he was an altar boy at San Isidro Catholic Church in Malojloj. The alleged abuses lasted up to around 1976 when he was about 12, the complaint says.

W.E.T.'s complaint stated that he was 11 through 13, around 1970 to 1973, when Brouillard sexually abused him. W.E.T. said he was an altar boy at the San Isidro Catholic Church in Malojloj and a Boy Scout at the time. He's now 58.

Now 50, P.P.R. alleged that Brouillard abused him when he was about 9 years old and a Boy Scout around 1976.

Reporter Haidee Eugenio covers Guam's Catholic church issues, education and more. Follow her on Twitter @haidee_eugenio. Follow Pacific Daily News on Facebook/GuamPDN and Instagram @guampdn.

Contact: heugenio@guampdn.com