Rape Allegation against Another Priest

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
December 7, 2016

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/12/07/rape-allegation-against-another-priest/95080344/

A former altar boy in Sinajana, who also was a student at Father Duenas Memorial School, has accused a Catholic priest of repeatedly raping and sexually molesting him, from about 1982 to 1986.

Robert Aguon Perez, now 45, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Rev. David Anderson and the Archdiocese of Agana, alleging that Anderson started molesting him when he was an 11-year-old altar boy and then started raping him when he was 12 or 13 years old. The lawsuit states Anderson was a priest in Sinajana and a theology teacher at Father Duenas.

Perez is represented by Attorney David Lujan of the law firm Lujan and Wolff, which has so far filed 12 clergy sex abuse lawsuits against former and current priests on Guam, the Archdiocese of Agana, and as many as 50 unnamed people who may have helped, abetted, concealed or covered up sex abuses.

Lujan’s law firm said on Wednesday it does do not know where Anderson is right now, but that he is not on Guam. This is the first time Anderson’s name has been mentioned in any public allegation or accusation of clergy sex abuse on Guam.

The Archdiocese of Agana was sought for comment, but hadn't responded as of press time.

Perez lived on Guam during his childhood years and now is living in Los Angeles, California.

In or about August 1982, Perez, who was about 11 years old, served as an altar boy at the Saint Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Sinajana where Anderson was a priest, the lawsuit states.

“During the period in which he served as an altar boy, Robert was repeatedly sexually molested and molested by Anderson,” the 15-page complaint states.

Over the next few years, in order to have continued access to Perez for sexual abuse purposes, Anderson sought and obtained the altar boy’s parents’ permission to have him spend the night at the rectory, the complaint says.

“Whenever Robert slept at the rectory, Anderson sexually molested and raped him,” the complaint says. The former altar boy alleges that the rape began between 1983 and 1984, when he was 12 or 13 years old.

The priest’s alleged rape and abuses continued when Perez attended Father Duenas Memorial School in Mangilao, where Anderson was teaching theology, the complaint says.

“During the period in which Robert was attending FDMS and Anderson was teaching theology, Robert was repeatedly sexually molested and raped by Anderson,” the complaint adds.

The complaint states, “Anderson sexually abused, molested and raped Perez when Perez was a minor and committed such acts while serving as a priest in the Sinajana parish and/or teacher at Father Duenas Memorial School, in both of his capacities as an agent and employee of the Agana Archdiocese, who are vicariously liable for his actions.”

The complaint also says the archdiocese and others knew that Anderson had sexually abused, molested and raped Perez, but did not report the matter to law enforcement and did not intervene to prevent the priest from further abusing the altar boy.

“To this day, the Agana Archdiocese and Does 1-50 never contacted Robert, Robert’s family, or children they know Anderson had sexual contact with,” the complaint adds.

Perez is suing for an unspecified amount of damages for child sexual abuse, negligence, negligent supervision, negligent hiring and retention, breach of fiduciary duty/confidential relationship. Perez is demanding a jury trial of six.

The clergy sex abuse lawsuits are possible after Gov. Eddie Calvo signed a law on Sept. 23, lifting the civil statute of limitations for those accused of abusing children, as well as the institutions that supported them.

The latest complaint brings to at least 10 the total number of former and current Guam priests who already have been publicly accused of abuse and/or rape.

Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, who has been the head of the predominantly Catholic Church on Guam for 30 years, has been the subject of four clergy sex abuse lawsuits. Apuron, 71, is also now undergoing a canonical trial at the Vatican for multiple sex abuse allegations from former altar boys in Agat. Pope Francis already appointed an Apuron successor, Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes, who arrived on Guam on Nov. 28.

Former island priest Louis Brouillard has also been the subject of at least seven lawsuits for allegedly sexually abusing and molesting former altar boys and former Boy Scouts. Brouillard, who was on Guam from the late 1940s to 1981, repeatedly confessed to sexually abusing at least 20 boys on Guam. One other priest, Antonio Cruz, now deceased, was also accused of sexual abuse but was not named defendant in a lawsuit against the archdiocese.