By Kathryn Marchocki
Manchester Union Leader
October 2, 2003

A Hudson father of three filed suit yesterday claiming Brother Guy Beaulieu sexually abused him in 1974 while he was student at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua.

The suit also accuses two former provincial superiors of the religious order that runs the school of negligence for failing to discipline or control Beaulieu, even though the former teacher admitted to molesting another student three years earlier.

George Prevost, 44, of Hudson said Beaulieu molested him during the spring of his freshman year, according to the suit filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Nashua.

Besides the high school and the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, the suit names Brother Leo Labbe and Brother Ronald Dupuis as defendants. Both are former provincial superiors of the order's New England province.

Beaulieu, 63, testified under oath in related cases that he admitted to Labbe in 1971 that he molested a student at a Rhode Island preparatory school run by the order, the suit alleges.

Beaulieu said Labbe related the information to Dupuis, then provincial superior, according to Prevost's attorney, Peter E. Hutchins of Manchester.

Beaulieu was not disciplined, and instead was transferred the next year to Bishop Guertin, where he taught until 1991. Beaulieu admitted in a sworn statement to molesting about 25 minors during that time, including Bishop Guertin students, the suit alleges.

Hutchins said both Dupuis and Labbe deny having any prior knowledge of Beaulieu's actions.

Attempts to reach attorneys for the order and the school were unsuccessful yesterday.

Prevost came forward last week with his accusations against Beaulieu, Hutchins said.

Hutchins now represents 15 alleged sexual abuse victims who have brought suit against the order and school. Nine of them say they were assaulted by Beaulieu.

One of his clients yesterday changed his lawsuit to publicly identify himself. Kurt A. Walter, 38, of Woburn, Mass., previously filed suit as John Doe I.

Walter said in his suit that Brother Leon Cyr molested him multiple times from 1981 to 1983 while he was a Bishop Guertin student.

Hutchins said Walter's decision to go public and Prevost's decision to come forward "demonstrates the resolve of our clients to see these cases through to the end," Hutchins said. "It should dispel any notion that the school or their insurance (companies) have that my clients can be intimidated."