BishopAccountability.org
 
 

New Priest Accused of Raping Boy for 5 Years

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
October 18, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/10/18/new-priest-accused-raping-boy-5-years/774947001/

The late Msgr. Jose Leon Guerrero, shown in this photo that published in the Pacific Daily News in August 1974.

Another priest, the now-deceased Monsignor Jose Ada Leon Guerrero, was added to the list of Guam clergy accused of sexually abusing or raping children.

A plaintiff, identified in court documents only as C.M.V. to protect his privacy, said in his complaint filed Wednesday that the priest sexually abused him, including penetration, when he was about 9 to 13 years old from about 1969 to 1973.

The priest allegedly abused the boy about twice a week for almost five years, and the priest would remind the boy not to tell anybody, the lawsuit says.

On several occasions, the priest would give the boy a gift to silence him, the complaint says.

The late Msgr. Jose Leon Guerrero, in a photo that published in the Pacific Daily News in April 1975. (Photo: PDN file photo)

C.M.V. was an altar boy at the Nino Perdido y Sagrada Familia Catholic Church in Asan at the time, and Monsignor Guerrero was the priest, the lawsuit says. The priest lived on the second floor of the church.

Now 57, C.M.V. filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Guam on Wednesday. He is represented by attorney David Lujan. He demands a jury trial and $10 million in minimum damages.

C.M.V.'s lawsuit says after mass one day around 1969, Leon Guerrero instructed the boy to follow him upstairs. The priest locked the door, began to caress the boy, and told him, "Don't be scared," the lawsuit says.

The priest also said he would give the boy a gift if he does something for him, the complaint says. Being a 9-year-old, C.M.V. had no knowledge of sex or what it was about, and he became frightened when the priest made him to do something to him.

"Don't worry, it's not going to hurt you," the priest said, according to the lawsuit.

Every time Leon Guerrero summoned C.M.V. to come upstairs, the priest would lock the door and the boy would be stuck in the room until the priest allowed him to leave, the lawsuit says.

The last incident occurred around 1973 when C.M.V. penetrated the boy, who screamed and cried until the priest stopped, the lawsuit says.

"Before Monsignor Guerrero unlocked the door, he gave C.M.V. a gift and said, 'Remember when I give you this gift you cannot tell anyone what happened'," the lawsuit says. C.M.V. quit serving as an altar boy that year, the lawsuit says.

C.M.V. is the 136th person to file a childhood sexual abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana, dozens of priests, other clergy and others associated with the Catholic Church.

Contact: heugenio@guampdn.com

 

 

 

 

 




.

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.