California Lawyer Leads $1m Aid Fund for Clergy Abuse Victims

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
April 11, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/04/11/california-lawyer-leads-1m-aid-fund-clergy-abuse-victims/100313946/

Attorney Michael Caspino motions toward a hotline number during a press conference at the Archdiocese of Agana on Tuesday, April 11, 2017. It was announced by Archbishop Michael Byrnes that Caspino was named the executive director of Hope and Healing Guam, a group that will help assist and address the needs Guam's clergy sexual abuse victims.

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes on Tuesday named the head of a new independent body to help victims of clergy sex abuse on Guam find healing and closure, using an initial $1 million in funding.

California attorney Michael Caspino was named executive director of the non-profit Hope and Healing Guam, which the Archdiocese of Agana said could impact the dozens of clergy sex abuse cases currently in local and federal courts.

In the weeks ahead, the archdiocese plans to ask the federal court to postpone the clergy sex abuse cases for three to four months while the church tries to address the complaints outside of court, through the new program.

The archdiocese, through its attorneys, this week also asked the federal court to dismiss the lawsuits, arguing the 2016 law that retroactively lifted the statute of limitations was unconstitutional.

Caspino, who served as general counsel to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County, and who has dealt with hundreds of victims of clergy sex abuse, said experience has shown that court litigation does not necessarily solve abuse cases and can make the victims feel more alienated.

Caspino said he has started talking to attorney David Lujan, who represents plaintiffs in 39 of the 47 clergy sex abuse cases filed so far against the archdiocese. Caspino said the archdiocese believes Lujan's clients will become involved in Hope and Healing Guam. Caspino said he will also be talking to lawyers representing other plaintiffs.

The $1 million set aside by the archdiocese for the program is just an initial amount, and the Archdiocesan Finance Council is working on getting more money, council President Richard Untalan said.

Byrnes, during Tuesday's press conference, said Hope and Healing Guam is an alternative way of dealing with clergy abuse cases.

Other than financing the aid fund, the archdiocese will have no influence over how the fund is administered, how it's operated, or how claims are reviewed and processed.

Hope and Healing Guam's hotline is 1 888 649 5288. It will also soon have a board of directors with five to seven people from Guam. The board and the executive director, acting independently of the archdiocese, will establish the criteria and procedures for payment of claims and other services from the fund.

Contact: heugenio@guampdn.com