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My Brother Was Raped by Archbishop Apuron’

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
July 29, 2016

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/07/28/man-my-brother-raped-archbishop-apuron/87650568/

[with video]

John "Champ" Quinata, right, pauses for a moment during a public hearing, to gather his thoughts as recalls what his late brother, Joseph 'Sonny' Quinata, said about his alledged child sexual abuse, by then-Father Anthony Apuron, when they were children. Senators heard testimony from the public on July 28, regarding Bill 326 which proposes to repeal the statute of limitations in case involving child sex abuse.

The younger brother of a man allegedly molested by Archbishop Anthony Apuron told lawmakers Thursday he remembers when his brother, Joseph Anthony “Sonny” Quinata, came home crying.

“Senators, I know my brother was raped by Archbishop Apuron. He was sodomized. He was only 9 years old,” John Michael “Champ” Quinata said as he testified on a bill that would lift the statute of limitations, allowing victims of child sex abuse to sue their alleged perpetrators at any time.

Quinata’s mother, Doris Concepcion, first came forward with abuse allegations against Apuron in May, saying “Sonny” told her, just before he died 11 years ago, that Apuron had molested him in the late 1970s.

Joseph A. Quinata, as a child in Guam. (Photo: Courtesy of Doris Concepcion)

Apuron also has been accused of molestation or rape by three other former Agat altar boys — Roy T. Quintanilla, Walter G. Denton and Roland Sondia. Apuron was parish priest at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at the time of the alleged attacks. The accusers said he assaulted them during sleepovers at the church rectory. Apuron has denied the allegations.

“Pass this bill. Protect the boys and girls and help my brother Sonny, Roy, Roland and Walter, and others like them to go after their abusers and the institutions that protect them or cover for them for their past crimes and to deter any other potential abusers from doing the same,” Champ Quinata said. “Healing cannot begin without justice.”

Champ Quinata said he was 8 years old when Sonny came home one morning, “very upset, angry, in pain and crying,” and “was hurting badly and couldn’t use the bathroom” after spending the night at Apuron’s place in Agat.

That morning, the Quinata brothers made a promise to each other not to reveal to anyone what Apuron had done, he said.

After 38 years, Champ Quinata broke that promise but said he knows that Sonny Quinata is resting well now because his younger brother is speaking on his behalf to seek justice.

Champ Quinata said Apuron raped his older brother more than once.

Quintanilla and Denton are back in Guam this week to, among other things, testify in support of Sen. Frank Blas Jr.’s Bill 326-33.

Denton, now a resident of Arizona, said Apuron raped him during a sleepover at Apuron’s place in 1977. Quintanilla, now a resident of Hawaii, was the first accuser to come forward, on May 17. He said he was 12 when Apuron sexually abused him during a sleepover at the priest’s house. Sondia, now 54, said Apuron molested him in 1977 in Agat.

“By lifting the statute of limitations, you will allow me and all those who have been raped, molested and sexually abused to feel confident that justice will be served,” Denton told senators.

Champ Quinata said he didn’t know that his brother, before dying in 2005, had revealed the secret to their mother. He only knew about it when Concepcion told her story to the Pacific Daily News, in late May.

After being estranged from each other for a long time, Champ Quinata said he and his mother started talking again when she came back to Guam in June to bring home Sonny’s ashes. Together, they inurned Sonny’s ashes at the Guam Veterans Cemetery.

Apuron said in May that his accusers and their supporters were spreading malicious and calumnious lies, and threatened to sue them.

The Vatican temporarily stripped Apuron of his administrative authority over the Catholic church in Guam and sent Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai to manage the local archdiocese.

Apuron is not charged with any crime, and the statute of limitations in place at the time of the alleged assaults prevents criminal prosecution. Hon and other local church officials have said they didn’t know where Apuron is right now, but that information about the allegations has been forwarded to the Vatican.

On July 1, Denton, Sondia, Quintanilla and Concepcion, through their attorney David Lujan, filed a $2 million libel and slander lawsuit against Apuron, the Archdiocese of Agana and up to 50 other individuals for calling them liars when they publicly accused Apuron of sexual abuse.

That lawsuit was amended last Friday to include Hon as defendant, among other things. On Wednesday, Hon retracted and recanted all of Apuron’s statements and said he wants to meet the accusers.

Quintanilla told senators lifting the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse civil cases will encourage and allow victims to come forward to seek and receive justice and closure for their pain and suffering.

“Please do the right thing and lift the time limit on when victims of child sexual abuse may pursue and seek justice and closure,” Quintanilla said.

Sondia said it is difficult as it is to come forward after being sexually abused, let alone having to fight institutional heavyweights just to get a day in court.

“We pray and hope that upon the passage and signing of this bill, other victims will come forward so that they can begin the long road towards healing and recovery,” he said.

All others who testified, including Tim Rohr, Annabelle Cruz, Concerned Catholics of Guam president David Sablan, Mary Lou Garcia Pereda, Andrew Camacho, Gerald Taitano and a few others, also supported the bill’s passage. The public hearing on the bill continues on Monday at 10 a.m.

 

 

 

 

 




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