Former priest, Boy Scout leader, accused in new abuse suits

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
July 18, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/07/18/non-clergy-boy-scout-leader-accused-rape/487037001/

Asan village priest, Father Ray Techaira stands next to the Holy Family, Joseph, Mary and Jesus, in the Nino Perdido Church in Asan. on May 28, 1989.

A man on Tuesday filed a lawsuit, alleging that now-deceased Boy Scouts of America scout leaderEdward Pereira raped and sexually abused him in the early 1970s. It is the first of 93 sexual abuse lawsuits that does not name the Archdiocese of Agana as a defendant.

Another lawsuit filed Tuesday, by a man now living in California, alleges that now-deceased priest Ray Techaira sexually abused him when he was a Catholic school student in the mid-1980s.

The two plaintiffs, represented by attorney David Lujan, filed their lawsuits in the U.S. District Court of Guam. Both are identified in court documents only by their initials to protect their privacy.

T.P.J., in his complaint, alleges that Pereirawould sexually molest and abuse him every time he rode with Pereira, who dropped him home after scouting activities.

The abuse happened in 1970 or 1971, when T.P.J. was 9 or 10 years old, the complaint states.

The lawsuit alleges that Pereira raped T.P.J. in a storage room that the scout leader immediately locked as soon as they both entered.

"T.P.J. cried and tried to break free, but Pereira was too strong," the lawsuit states, adding that T.P.J. avoided Pereira after that.

Now 56 and living on Guam, T.P.J. demands a jury trial and $10 million in minimum damages.

A.W.C., the second plaintiff, said Techaira sexually molested and abused him when he was a student at San Vicente Catholic School in Barrigada.

This is the second time Techaira has been named in a clergy sex abuse lawsuit.

The first lawsuit naming Techaira was filed on June 22, alleging that Techaira raped and sexually molested a boy, J.A., more than 100 times in the 1980s, starting on the boy's seventh birthday. 

A.W.C. is now 44 and living in California. He demands a jury trial and $5 million in minimum damages.

At the time of the alleged abuse, A.W.C. was in the seventh grade and was about 12 or 13 years old, around 1985 or 1986, the lawsuit states.

Techaira was a teacher at the time, and a priest at the Nino Perdido y Sagrada Familia Catholic Church in Asan.

A.W.C. began assisting Techaira at the Asan parish in exchange for confirmation classes, and the arrangement went on for months, the lawsuit states.

During an overnight stay at Techaira's residence at the Asan rectory, with permission from A.W.C.'s parents, the priest allegedly sexually abused and molested the boy, the lawsuit states.