3 new clergy abuse lawsuits against Cepeda, Brouillard

Three new clergy sex abuse lawsuits were filed on Monday in local and federal courts, two of them alleging abuse by former priest Louis Brouillard in the late 1960s,  and one alleging abuse by the now deceased former priest Raymond Cepeda in the mid 1980s.

Brouillard, starting around 1968, sexually abused an altar boy at the Malojloj Parish on a regular basis for about four years while also abusing other boys, including taking Polaroids of those who were swimming naked during Boy Scouts outings, states a lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of Guam by a plaintiff identified only as J.C.M.

J.C.M., represented by attorney Michael Berman, said in his $10 million lawsuit that Brouillard sexually abused him on church grounds and at Boy Scouts outings, starting when he was about 11. Brouillard was a scoutmaster for decades.

The lawsuit states Brouillard would hold down J.C.M. when he was alone with the priest in his room at the Malojloj church and abuse him "several times."

Subjected to priest walking around naked

The complaint states over a four-year period, J.C.M. and other altar boys at the Malojloj parish would meet in Brouillard's room, where they were subjected to the priest walking around naked.

It states Brouillard would regularly molest J.C.M. and the other altar boys and show pornographic films to altar boys and Boy Scouts. 

Brouilllard told the boys, including J.C.M., to swim naked, then would grope and molest them in the water, the lawsuit states.

"At the same time, Brouillard was taking Polaroid pictures of the boys," the lawsuit states. J.C.M. is now 60.

Agana Heights Boy Scouts

Another plaintiff, identified in court documents as F.S., said in his complaint that Brouillard sexually molested and abused him around 1967 or 1968 when he joined the Agana Heights Boy Scout of America Troop 22.

The abuse included an incident at Agana Springs, when Brouillard tried to grope and touch F.S.'s private parts, the lawsuit states. The priest also repeatedly exposed himself to the boy, the complaint states.

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A few months later, Brouillard also abused F.S. during an overnight Boy Scouts Jamboree at Nimitz Beach in Agat, the complaint states

F.S. is represented by attorney David Lujan and is demanding at least $10 million in damages.

'Very mean priest'

Father Raymond Cepeda, now deceased, allegedly sexually molested and abused a boy attending confirmation classes at the Santa Barbara Catholic Church in Dededo from around 1984 to 1986, a third lawsuit states.

The plaintiff, T.A.J., said in his lawsuit that Cepeda was a "very mean" priest, with angry outbursts in the middle of the class, who was constantly embarrassing students.

T.A.J., who was about 14 to 16 years old, said Cepeda targeted him and frequently asked the boy to stay back after confirmation class. The priest would then sexually abuse and molest him, the complaint states.

The priest also abused the boy while driving his Mazda RX-7, the complaint states.

Lawsuit demands $5M minimum

T.A.J.  also is represented by Lujan, and his lawsuit demands a minimum of $5 million in damages.

Cepeda was defrocked around 2009 or 2010. He died in November 2017.

Nearly 170 Guam clergy sex abuse lawsuits have been filed in local and federal courts since 2016.