Apuron: Judge's Report Is Erroneous, Should Be Rejected

By Haidee V. Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
October 26, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/10/26/apuron-judges-report-erroneous-should-rejected/793440001/

Archbishop Anthony Apuron, in magenta, is surrounded by clergy and parishioners during the annual Santa Marian Kamalen procession in Hagatna on Dec. 8, 2015.

Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron said a federal judge's report, stating that the clergy sex abuse lawsuits against Apuron should not be dismissed, is "erroneous and contrary to law, and should be rejected."

Apuron has again asked U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood to dismiss the complaints against him, stating the incidents, which allegedly happened more than 40 years ago, are time-barred and take away the archbishop's due process rights.

The archbishop is represented by attorney Jacqueline Terlaje.

Apuron is being sued in federal court for allegedly sexually abusing or raping four altar boys in Agat in the 1970s when he was a parish priest. He is also undergoing a Vatican canonical trial to determine his fate as a member of the clergy.

The chief judge said she will decide on Dec. 31 whether or not to dismiss the lawsuits against Apuron, based on a review of Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan's Sept. 27 report and recommendation and Apuron's response to that report.

Manibusan, in his recommendation, said Public Law 33-187's retroactive application does not infringe upon Apuron's vested rights and due process as guaranteed under the Organic Act.

That 2016 law, signed by Gov. Eddie Calvo, retroactively eliminated the statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Since it was passed, nearly 140 childhood sexual abuse lawsuits against priests, other clergy, others associated with the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America and other entities have been filed.

Terlaje asked the chief judge to reject Manibusan's report, arguing that retroactive application of the law is constitutionally defective.

Apuron has denied the allegations against him.