4 former Boy Scouts file sex abuse lawsuits

The Guam Daily Post/January 8, 2018

By Mindy Aguon

Four new child sex abuse cases were filed last week in the Superior Court of Guam by former Boy Scouts against the Archdiocese of Agana, the Boy Scouts of America and retired priest Louis Brouillard.

Attorney Michael Berman represents four clients who allege they were sexually abused by Brouillard while they were Boy Scouts in their teens. The men filed the lawsuits using initials to protect their identities.

The archdiocese now faces more than 150 sex abuse lawsuits involving alleged child sex abuse decades ago, with combined claims for damages exceeding $500 million.

The accounts of abuse in these four complaints were similar as all four plaintiffs recalled alleged abuse during Boy Scout outings with Brouillard, who was a Guam priest and a scout master.

M.W.M., 53, alleges he was abused in the late 1970s during regular swimming and camping outings over the course of a year. Brouillard took the Boy Scouts swimming and would routinely instruct the boys to remove their clothes and swim naked, the lawsuit states.

The complaint also alleges Brouillard took photos of the boys while they were nude and swimming.

M.W.M. alleges he was fondled, and contends the priest enticed them with promises of merit badges and dinner.

Indecent exposure

G.C., 54, said he was interested in joining the Boy Scouts when he was 13, and often joined the boys on swimming outings to the Lonfit River. The boys would swim in their underwear, but Brouillard told them to swim in the nude and offered to reward them with hamburgers at McDonald's if they complied, his lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states G.C. refused to swim naked, however he did see the priest expose himself by walking on the river bank naked and fondling the boys.

G.C. went a second time on an outing but, "after observing Brouillard's sexually abusive behavior a second time," he decided not to join the Boy Scouts, the plaintiff alleges.

M.M., 54, also joined the Boy Scouts between 1977 and 1979. He said he was sexually abused by Brouillard on church grounds and at Boy Scout outings.

As a boy, M.M. recalls seeing Brouillard expose himself at the rectory where they boys would gather. The priest allegedly encouraged the boys to read adult magazines and engage in sexual acts.

During swimming outings, the boys were instructed to swim naked as Brouillard allegedly took photos of them. Brouillard allegedly told the boys they needed to do these things in order to obtain their merit badges and in order to dine out with him.

M.M. noted he thought nothing of the photos at the time they were taken, and he now understands the danger of those pictures being distributed or shared. The boy eventually decided not to continue with the Boy Scouts.

One year of abuse

A.E.P., 61, alleges he was sexually abused weekly during Boy Scout outings with Brouillard for approximately one year.

Around 1969, A.E.P. became a Boy Scout.

The lawsuit alleges he and other Boy Scouts were routinely instructed to swim naked and were sexually abused during weekly swimming outings and then rewarded with free food at local restaurants.

The four plaintiffs contend they followed Brouillard's instructions because he was a priest, a position they regarded much more than a scout master.

Brouillard was interviewed in a deposition in Pine City, Minnesota, where he has lived after serving as a priest and scoutmaster on Guam for several decades. He has admitted, in writing, to sexually abusing as many as 50 boys who served as altar servers in parishes and as Boy Scouts.

Attorney Berman alleges the archdiocese and the Boy Scouts were negligent because they were aware of the sexual abuse and did nothing to prevent or stop it.

There have been five child clergy sex abuse cases filed this year and a total of 156 filed in the last two years.

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