Guam to lift statute of limitation for sex crimes

Radio New Zealand
September 13, 2016

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/313197/guam-to-lift-statute-of-limitation-for-sex-crimes

Archbishop Anthony Apuron has been accused of sexually abusing several altar boys in the 1970s.

The Guam legislature has unanimously approved the permanent removal of the statute of limitations for all sexual abuse crimes.

If approved by the governor, the bill will allow victims to file civil cases against their alleged assailant.

The bill was introduced this year after several former altar boys alleged that the Catholic Archbishop Anthony Apuron sexually abused them while he was parish priest in the 1970s.

Today's Guam Daily Post carries testimony of a 62-year-old man who claims to have witnessed the Archbishop having sex with a 10-year-old boy in 1964 when a group of altar boys had been invited to spend the night at the parish rectory.

The latest accuser is the fifth person to come forward alleging sex abuse by the then parish priest.

There have protests against the Catholic Archbishop, calling for him to be defrocked.

In 2011 the legislature passed a similar measure, opening a two-year window for any victim of childhood sexual abuse to file a civil case.

At the time, the local Catholic church advocated against it.