Clergy Abuse Happened As Recently As 10 Years Ago, Lawsuit Claims

By Haidee V. Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
October 6, 2017

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/10/06/guam-priest-sexual-abuse/740424001/

Some of the sexual abuse that more than 100 children on Guam are alleged to have suffered at the hands of Catholic clergy happened about 10 years ago, not in the more distant past as most lawsuits have claimed, according to a new suit filed Friday in federal court here.

Most of the nearly 130 lawsuits filed so far have said children were abused from the mid-1950s to the early 1990s.

But a 23-year-old man, identified in court documents as J.C.M.P., alleges that Vernon Kamiaz, a Capuchin brother involved in training altar boys at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church in Agana Heights, molested him in 2006 or 2007. Attorney Gloria L. Rudolph, of the law firm of Lujan and Wolff, confirmed that J.C.M.P. is the youngest to file a clergy abuse suit; USA TODAY does not use the names of potential victims of sexual abuse unless they consent to being identified.

Not only was Kamiaz a mentor in the parish about a mile south of Hagatna, he was a neighbor and trusted family friend, according to the lawsuit.

One day after Mass, Kamiaz asked J.C.M.P. and his brother to help Kamiaz clean up around his house. They agreed, but J.C.M.P.'s brother and Kamiaz's nephew later went next door to the house of Kamiaz's sister.

When Kamiaz and J.C.M.P. were alone, Kamiaz allegedly started rubbing and caressing the boy, which made him feel very uncomfortable, the lawsuit states.

The Capuchin brother then brought the boy into his bedroom and told him to lie down, the lawsuit states.

Kamiaz is a former science teacher at Simon Sanchez High School. He is now assigned to the Guam Department of Education's central office at Tiyan, which is not a school site.

J.C.M.P. is the 127th person to file a sex-abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana, priests and others associated with the Catholic church. The archdiocese, the Capuchin Franciscans, Capuchin Franciscans Province of St. Mary, Capuchin Franciscans Custody of Star of the Sea and up to 50 others also are named as defendants.