Judge Grants Retired Bishop’s 2nd Request in Abuse Case
By Haidee V Eugenio
U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan granted a second request from retired Saipan Bishop Tomas A. Camacho to have more time to respond to a former altar boy’s lawsuit, alleging the former Guam priest raped and sexually abused him from about 1971 to 1974. The judge gave Camacho, represented by Attorney William M. Fitzgerald, until April 10 to respond to Melvin Duenas' lawsuit. The deadline was supposed to be March 31. Fitzgerald and Duenas' attorney, Gloria Rudolph of the law firm of Lujan & Wolff, submitted on March 27 a stipulation on the second proposed extension. The judge granted the time extension on March 29. Duenas, now 55 and living in Yona, filed on Feb. 13 in the U.S. District Court of Guam a lawsuit alleging that Camacho sexually abused and raped him when Camacho was priest at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Inarajan. Duenas also alleged that former island priest Louis Brouillard sexually abused him on church grounds and during Boy Scouts of America activities. The Archdiocese of Agana, along with some of its former and current clergy including Camacho is so far facing 39 lawsuits. Gov. Eddie B. Calvo on Sept. 23, 2016, signed a bill into law, eliminating the statute of limitations on lawsuits against those who accused of abusing children, as well as the institutions that supported them. heugenio@guampdn.com
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