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Another Apuron accuser talking to Vatican
By Haidee V Eugenio
Roy Quintanilla, the first former altar boy in 2016 to come forward and publicly accuse Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of sexually abusing him, said Tuesday he will testify before a Vatican tribunal. The tribunal, led by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, is handling Apuron’s canonical penal trial. Quintanilla said it will receive his testimony in Honolulu on May 6. “I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do,” Quintanilla, 52, said. Quintanilla said he is grateful he'll be able to talk directly to the Vatican about what Apuron did to him some 40 years ago. “I’m looking forward to testifying before the Vatican tribunal. I’ve been waiting for a long time to tell them my story,” he said. “I’m truly grateful for all the support that people have shown not only for myself but all the other victims. I hope what I’m doing also helps the cause of other victims.” Quintanilla was an altar boy and Apuron was the parish priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Agat when the alleged abuse took place. Another former altar boy, Walter Denton, testified before the Vatican tribunal on March 17 in San Francisco at the archbishop’s residence. Denton alleges Apuron raped him during a sleepover at the Agat church rectory in 1977, when Denton was 13 years old . Doris Concepcion, mother of deceased altar boy Joseph “Sonny” A. Quinata, testified before the Vatican tribunal in Arizona in March about her son’s alleged sexual abuse by Apuron, Denton said. The tribunal was on Guam Feb. 16-18 to hear testimony from witnesses and one Apuron accuser, Roland Sondia. But with the advice of attorney David Lujan, Sondia didn’t testify before the tribunal. At the time Quintanilla didn't meet with the tribunal, following Lujan’s advice. Quintanilla said he has always believed his counsel had his interest at heart. But Quintanilla said being able to tell the Vatican directly about the abuse is important to him. He said he'll be able to ask the tribunal for a short break for him to confer with his counsel, if he requests. His counsel won't be in the room. It's not clear whether Lujan will be in Hawaii when Quintanilla testifies. David Sablan, president of Concerned Catholics of Guam, said his group has never wavered in its support for Quintanilla and all other victims of clergy sex abuse. Sablan said the group is grateful for Quintanilla’s decision to testify. He said Concerned Catholics stands ready to raise funds to help bring any Apuron accuser to the Vatican tribunal. “(Concerned Catholics) has been hopeful that all of the victims of Archbishop Apuron would be able to testify before the Vatican tribunal to solidify the case against Apuron, for him to be removed as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana, and to be laicized or defrocked, to be stripped of all his priestly duties,” Sablan said. When Quintanilla came forward in May 2016, he said the abuse happened on a night after he and fellow altar boys saw a movie. Apuron, he said, was driving Quintanilla and the other altar boys home. Quintanilla said he thought he was going to be taken home, but Apuron asked him to sleep at Apuron’s house so Quintanilla could help at church in the morning. “You insisted I sleep in your bedroom, even though I told you I wanted to sleep in the living room,” Quintanilla had said. “I felt so uncomfortable being alone with you in your bedroom.” Quintanilla said the archbishop touched his private areas through his pants. “I cried then, and I’ve never stopped crying,” he said. Quintanilla, Denton, Sondia and the late Quinata's estate also filed clergy sex abuse lawsuits in the U.S. District Court of Guam against the Archdiocese of Agana, Apuron and up to 50 other John Does. As of April 24, the Archdiocese of Agana faces 56 clergy sex abuse lawsuits in federal and local courts. The lawsuits involved at least 10 priests. Contact: heugenio@guampdn.com
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