Documents expose widespread clerical sex abuse in Guam

By Zach Halaschak

Published August 8, 2019 9:44pm ET

Documents expose widespread clerical sex abuse in Guam — Leo Tudela recalls his allegations of sexual abuse at age 13 by a monk at the Saint Fidelis Friary, seen in the background, in Hagatna, Guam. Tudela was eventually moved to live in the rectory of another church where Rev. Louis Brouillard took interest in him. That began an eight-month period during which Tudela alleges he was regularly raped and molested. "We're all human beings, so there is always forgiveness, but this person, I don't think God will forgive him," he said. Brother Mariano Laniyo and Brouillard are now dead. Brouillard acknowledged abuse allegations before he died. | (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Court documents show that from the 1950s until 2013, a systemic pattern of sexual abuse by clergy of the Roman Catholic Church took place on the small U.S. territory of Guam.

The Associated Press conducted an extensive investigation that found decades of collusion and cover-ups from priests all the way up to the top of the church’s hierarchy.