Guam Police Department records show no sexual assault complaint filed against former Guam Visitors Bureau president Carl Gutierrez since 2022, indicating the allegations contained in a recently filed $61.5 million civil lawsuit have not been the subject of a criminal complaint with local police.
The distinction means the matter is, at present, a civil case in the District Court of Guam rather than a criminal investigation. The two processes are separate: a civil lawsuit can proceed independently of any criminal complaint, and the absence of a police report does not establish whether the underlying allegations are true or false.
The lawsuit, filed June 1 by a plaintiff identified as "Jane Doe," alleges Gutierrez sexually assaulted and harassed her during official GVB travel and in agency offices between October 2022 and August 2024. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Notably, the lawsuit itself addresses why no contemporaneous complaint may have been filed. According to the suit, the plaintiff alleges she was discouraged from reporting by GVB's legal counsel and delayed coming forward out of fear of retaliation and uncertainty about how to file a complaint. The suit alleges she ultimately submitted a written complaint to the GVB board chair, prompting a third-party investigation that it says found her accounts credible but resulted in no disciplinary action after Gutierrez resigned and declined to be interviewed.
Gutierrez has not been charged with any crime in connection with the allegations. He was not quoted in the court documents, and his response to the lawsuit could not be obtained.
Though GVB declined to comment, the Governor's Office acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations but maintained the case does not involve any employees of the "government of Guam." The office called the "notion that 'the government' engaged in a conspiracy to cover-up the allegations" in the case "preposterous."
The case is filed as Civil Case 1:26-cv-00017.