Father Jack Niland is 12th Guam priest accused in latest sex abuse lawsuit

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
May 22, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/05/22/father-jack-niland-12-th-guam-priest-accused-latest-clergy-sex-abuse-lawsuit/335634001/

Father Jack Niland, wears a hard hat during the 2006 groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Fidelis Friary.

Former Agat altar boy Walter Denton, who has accused Archbishop Anthony Apuron of raping him when he was a child, has said he told another priest — Father Jack Niland — about the rape at the time, but said Niland's response was that "priesthood is a very lonely life."

Niland, who died in 2009, is now accused of molesting Francis Charfauros, now 49. Charfauros, who said Niland was supposed to train him to be a priest, filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court of Guam, suing the church for $5 million.

Father John "Jack" Niland is now the 12th Guam priest accused accused of sexually abusing children decades ago.

Charfauros, who now lives in Arizona, alleged in his complaint that Niland sexually abused him in 1982, when he was around 14, during a sleepover at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church rectory in Agat.

Charfauros, represented by attorney David Lujan, is the 67th person to file a Guam clergy sex abuse lawsuit in local and federal courts after the statute of limitations was lifted late last year.

"Francis tried to get up but Niland held Francis down. Francis was disturbed, confused and terrified," the complaint states. "After Niland was done sexually abusing Francis, Francis left the rectory and went home. Francis ceased residing at the rectory with Niland and no longer had any interest in the priesthood."

Former altar boy Denton, in a libel suit filed against Apuron last year, included a letter he sent to Archbishop Martin Krebs in 2015, describing a conversation Denton and another altar boy had with Niland in the 1970s. 

"We told Father Jack Niland that Father Anthony Apuron had raped us in the rectory. We asked him why. The sad response we got from Father Jack Niland was, 'Well boys, priesthood is a very lonely life,'" Denton stated in his letter to Krebs.

Niland died in August 2009 at age 59, the lawsuit states.

Named as defendants in the case are the Archdiocese of Agana, the Capuchin Franciscans and the Capuchins Franciscans Province of Saint Mary.

Niland became a Capuchin in 1967 and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1976, the lawsuit states. His first assignment on Guam was under Apuron in Agat.

The lawsuit states Charfauros wanted to become a priest, so he consulted with Niland, who promised him a full scholarship to attend Father Duenas Memorial School, a minor seminary that teaches young men to become priests. 

The lawsuit states Niland suggested Charfauros live with Niland at the Agat rectory since it's closer to school and it would be more convenient for him to assist the priest at the parish.