Man alleges he was repeatedly raped by Father Antonio C. Cruz

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
June 23, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/06/23/man-alleges-he-repeatedly-raped-father-antonio-c-cruz/422686001/

Antonio Cruz

A now-deceased Guam priest, Father Antonio C. Cruz, allegedly raped and sexually abused an altar boy in Chalan Pago from 1960 to 1962, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

The plaintiff, identified in court documents only as S.N.J.C. to protect his privacy, alleged Cruz sexually abused and raped him when he was around 14 to 16 years old and serving as altar boy at the Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Church.

Now 71 years old, S.N.J.C. filed his lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Guam on Friday. He's represented by attorney David Lujan.

The lawsuit says the alleged abuses started after a Sunday Mass when Cruz instructed S.N.J.C. to stay behind and meet him at the rectory. The priest allegedly told the boy that it was mannge, which means good in Chamorro, the complaint says.

"The sexual abuse and rape continued for the next two years," the lawsuit alleges.

S.N.J.C. is the 79th plaintiff to file a sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana in local and federal court. Of those, three didn't name priests in their lawsuits.

While S.N.J.C. alleged Cruz raped and sexually abused him, the deceased priest is not a named defendant in the lawsuit. Named defendants are the archbishop of Agana and up to 50 unnamed individuals who may have helped, abetted or covered up the abuses. S.N.J.C. demands a jury trial and $5 million in minimum damages.

This is the first allegation of rape against Cruz. Cruz was already previously alleged to have sexually abused minor boys, including a contemporary of Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron. Apuron, now undergoing a Vatican canonical trial over alleged rape and sexual abuse of altar boys, had said Cruz was his mentor.

Cruz died in 1986 around the age of 62, the lawsuit states.