Alleged Priest Sex Abuse Victims to Governor: Do the Right Thing, Sign Bill 326-33

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
September 20, 2016

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/09/20/alleged-priest-sex-abuse-victims-calvo-do-right-thing-sign-bill-326-33/90724842/

[with video]

Sen. Frank Blas Jr., R-Barrigada, center, speaks after receiving a petition with more than 3,000 signatures from Silent No More campaign founder Joe Santos, during a brief ceremony at the Guam Legislature in Hagatna on Sept. 8. The signatures were gathered in an effort to raise awareness about the removal of the statute of limitations on civil suits regarding sexual abuse of children. Blas, who is running for re-election, introduced Bill 326 to address the issue.

Former altar boys who recently accused Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron and other clergy of raping and sexually abusing children said they hope and pray Gov. Eddie Calvo will sign into law a bill allowing child sex abuse victims to sue the perpetrators and the institutions with which they are associated.

Lawmakers on Sept. 12 passed Bill 326-33 by a vote of 13-0. Gov. Eddie Calvo has until Friday to act on the bill, which would retroactively eliminate the statute of limitations for civil cases on child sexual abuse.

The Archdiocese of Agana is circulating a petition asking the governor to veto the bill, saying it would financially ruin the Catholic Church and disrupt social services and schools.

Temporary Guam Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon issued a written statement last weekend, stating the bill has serious implications for the Archdiocese because it would lift the time restriction on lawsuits against institutions, such as the Archdiocese, that have employed those accused of sexual abuse.

Roy Quintanilla, who in May was the first former Agat altar boy to accuse Apuron of sexual abuse, said the bill not only allows victims of molestation to obtain some sense of justice and closure, but it also helps prevent the abuse of other children.

“Anyone opposing it is not in support of preventing child sexual abuse,” said Quintanilla, who now lives in Hawaii. “The church’s stand, asking the governor to veto Bill 326-33, is sad.”

Quintanilla said while it is welcome news that the Archdiocese of Agana has acknowledged the sexual abuse of Guam children by clergy, the church has to follow through on this sympathy for the victims and the rest of the island’s children.

Pope Francis placed Apuron on leave and sent Archbishop Hon on June 6 to temporarily oversee the Catholic Church on Guam. Hon, who is on his way back to Guam from Rome, said he asked the pope to remove Apuron as archbishop of Guam.

Walter Denton, who publicly accused Apuron of raping him when he was an altar boy in the 1970s in Agat, said the Archdiocese's call for a veto says a lot about the church leadership.

“I am asking the governor to please sign this bill for the victims and for the protection of children,” said Denton, now a resident of Casa Grande, Arizona. “This bill gives the victims an opportunity to face their abuser. I, as a victim, would love to again face Apuron in court if given the opportunity. I am not the only one who feels this way.”

Roland Sondia, a former Agat altar boy who publicly accused Apuron of molesting him in the 1970s, said one of the governor's responsibilities is to protect the people, and that includes children, who are the island’s future.

“I pray that the governor does the right thing and sign this bill into law. If he has a conscience, he would sign this bill,” Sondia said. “We are not here to destroy the church. We just want the church to take responsibility.”

Sondia said he and Apuron's other alleged victims at first just wanted Apuron to acknowledge what he had done. Apuron denied the public allegations and threatened to sue those who accused him of sexual abuse.

Doris Concepcion, a former Guam resident now living in Prescott, Arizona, who accused Apuron of molesting her son, said, “For anybody who opposes the bill and signing a petition to oppose it, it’s like signing your own child’s death certificate. What those who oppose the bill want to happen is give permission to monsters to do whatever they want to do to children."

Concepcion said before her son “Sonny” Quinata died 11 years ago, he told her that Apuron abused her when he was an altar boy in the 1970s.

Concepcion said the church may have been hiding a lot of secrets it does not want to be exposed, so it is doing all it can to prevent those secrets from reaching the courts.

Apuron has not been charged with any crime.

The Rev. Jeffrey San Nicolas, delegate of the administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, said during a press briefing on Tuesday that the archdiocese is not seeking to protect child sex abusers of any kind by opposing Bill 326-33, but simply wants the people to be well-informed about the bill’s true effects, such as church bankruptcy.

“Bankruptcy of the local church would be inevitable, and attempts to exaggerate, minimize or obscure the effects of bankruptcy on the services provided by the Church is not helpful. The fact is that dioceses in bankruptcy have to make big sacrifices to fund the child abuse lawsuit settlements. Every diocese scrambles to keep the churches and school open, but in doing so, they have to make huge sacrifices elsewhere,” San Nicolas said.

He urged senators and the governor to consider carefully the motivations behind Bill 326-33.

“The Church desires for you to do what is right for the victims of abuse, but please safeguard the innocent people and services this bill could harm. I respectfully ask you to pray about your decision,” San Nicolas said.

Joe Santos, Silent No More movement founder, expresses his disappointment that Archdiocese of Agana seems to place the importance of church assets ahead of the needs of alleged victims of child sexual abuse, during a press conference in Hagatna

Andrew Camacho, vice president of the Concerned Catholics of Guam, said victims of abuse should take priority over church assets.

“If we go bankrupt, so be it... If it’s going to help the victims, let it be done. If the Church ends up with nothing, the people, the parishioners, will rebuild the church. We will rebuild a pure church. We do not want to support a corrupt church,” Camacho said.

Former Sen. Robert Klitzkie said the Archdiocese of Agana's reason to oppose a bill to lift statute of limitations on childhood sex abuse lawsuits is disingenuous. (See video below.)

Attorney David Lujan, counsel for priest abuse victims Quintanilla, Denton and Sondia, along with Concepcion, said in a separate statement Tuesday there is absolutely no truth to church officials’ statement that they are taking all steps to reach out, assist and compensate his clients, “the sex abuse victims.”

“Despite the fact that I have informed the Church to deal directly with me on this matter, Archbishop Hon or Father Jeff or any of their representatives have never contacted me to this date to begin discussions on how my clients can be assisted and compensated by the Church,” Lujan said.

He said it has been over a year since Denton informed Rome in writing of what happened to him and over four months since Quintanilla, Concepcion, Sondia, Leo Tudela and most recently Ramon A. De Plata have come forward to disclose horrible crimes that were inflicted on them.

“This is just another attempt by Church leaders to fool and deceive the public into thinking they can clean up their own house and to provide justice to child victims. Without Bill 326-33 becoming into law, the Church will revert to her old ways, and justice will never be served,” Lujan added.

Senators, meanwhile, said should the governor veto the bill, they stand ready to override the governor’s veto. The bill passed by a vote of 13-0 with two absences.