BishopAccountability.org

The Vatican acknowledges abuse in Guam, and Arizona man rejoices: 'They believed' us

By Jerod Macdonald-Evoy
Republic | azcentral.com
March 20, 2018

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/pinal/2018/03/20/vatican-rules-guam-archbishop-anthony-apuron-sexual-abuse-allegations-minors/436326002/

Walter Denton, an Arizona resident who has come forward with allegations of abuse by the Catholic Church in Guam, reacts to a Vatican ruling that the archbishop of Guam is "guilty of certain accusations."
Photo by Nick Oza

[with video]

Walter Denton lives in Casa Grande, half a world away from the Pacific island of Guam, where he grew up in the 1970s.

Despite all the distance and all the years passed, Denton holds close his memories of one night of terror in a church rectory.

He was an altar boy, and he was raped when he was 13, he told church authorities years later.

Denton accused Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron, then a parish priest, of the sexual abuse. It was just one of many accusations against the clergyman.

On Friday, a specially appointed Vatican tribunal in Rome announced that Apuron was “guilty of certain accusations” related to the sexual abuse of minors, stripping the 72-year-old of his position and prohibiting him from returning to Guam, a U.S. territory.

The Vatican did not address the number of potential victims, but dozens of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of minors have been filed against Apuron and other clergy in Guam. 

Apuron said he intends to appeal the church's ruling. 

Denton said he learned of the tribunal ruling Friday morning through a text message from a friend. 

His friend just sent him a story link, and Denton instantly had a feeling he knew what it was. 

He said he sat staring at his phone, breathing heavily, looking at the link. Finally he opened it and saw the words "guilty." 

"That moment I just broke down," Denton said. "They believed our testimony." 

News of the appeal angered Prescott resident Doris Concepcion, a former Guam resident who said her deceased son was sexually abused by Apuron in the 1970s. 

She said Apuron "can appeal and deny ... but the fact of the matter is, the Catholic Church has found him guilty, guilty, guilty. I pity the man. He has lost his way to Jesus, our Lord and Savior.”

'I woke up screaming' 

Denton told the Vatican in a 2015 letter that he had been raped by Apuron in 1977, when he was 13. He testified for the Vatican tribunal in San Francisco last year.

He was an altar boy at Apuron's church he was sexually assaulted by him, Denton said. 

It all happened on April 16 and 17, 1977. 

Apuron had asked Denton if he'd like to stay the night on Saturday at the rectory so they could wake up Sunday and prep for Mass. 

Denton at the time aspired to be a priest, a childhood dream of his, he said. 

"That night was just a regular evening," Denton told The Arizona Republic on Monday, tears welling in his eyes. 

They had dinner and Denton walked to a recliner in the living area intending to sleep there, but Apuron came out and insisted he sleep in Apuron's room on the bed, Denton said. 

"I just laid there keeping to myself," Denton said. He fell asleep, noting that he felt especially tired that night. 

He was awakened by an uncomfortable pain. 

"I woke up screaming," Denton said, taking a break to wipe his eyes. 

Apuron was on top of him, holding him down and raping him, he said. 

"I begged him, please stop," Denton said. Finally he did and Apuron lay down next to him as if nothing had happened, Denton said. 

Denton jumped out of the bed and toward the front door to get away from the rectory. 

"I opened the front door and wanted to leave, but it was so dark," Denton said. 

Denton said he kept the secret for years. He was afraid to tell his dad out of fear his father would hurt Apuron.

"He was a loving man," Denton said of his father, "but he would've killed him." 

He didn't entirely keep his secret, though. One Christmas Eve when Denton was still a teenager, he and another boy told the Rev. Jack Niland of the abuse.

Denton said Niland responded by saying that the "priesthood is a lonely life."

"That was the day I lost faith in the men who wear the cloth," Denton said.

Niland was later accused of also sexually abusing minors.

Coming forward 

In 2015, Denton decided he needed to report what he had experienced. 

He was attending his uncle's funeral and was back on Guam. A cousin started talking to him, and Apuron came up in the conversation. The cousin had seen Apuron sexually molesting another boy at the rectory who was planning to come forward, according to Denton. 

Denton, now a U.S. government employee, decided he needed to do something. So he began writing a letter detailing everything that had happened to him. 

Friends guided him to attorneys and to members of the church who helped him. 

The next thing he knew, his letter detailing Apuron's abuses was being hand-delivered to the pope, and seemingly the dam broke open. 

"To this day there are 16 priests that have been identified and accused," Denton said, "all under Apuron's leadership." 

The sexual abuse claims involve hundreds of people.

As painful as it is for Denton to retell his story, he said it is important for the men involved and for other possible victims to hear it. 

"I'll continue to tell my story," Denton said. 

"I want everyone to relive what happened to me that night," Denton said. "Telling my story has opened up a way for us to heal." 

The Vatican tribunal's discipline isn't enough for Denton. He said he hopes to get to see Apuron in a court of law where the former archbishop will have to listen to the testimony of his accusers. 

What Denton really wants is Apuron's public confession.

"I just want him to admit to it and to say that he is sorry for what he did to me and the other altar boys," Denton said. 

Arizona connections

Concepcion said as her son, former altar boy Joseph A. Quinata, was being wheeled into a surgery he wouldn't survive in 2005 when he told her he had been sexually assaulted by Apuron.

“Apuron should be ashamed of himself,” she said. “He should be repenting now, asking forgiveness from his victims, including those that do not want to come forward."

Concepcion and Denton are not the only Arizona connections to the abuse in Guam.

Last year Chandler resident  Francis Charfauros came forward with his story of abuse at the hands of Niland when Charfauros was 14. 

His lawsuit, filed in federal court in May 2017, alleges that Niland molested Charfauros in 1982 while the boy was living at the rectory at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the village of Agat in Guam.

Charfauros was the 67th person to file a Guam clergy sex abuse lawsuit in local and federal courts after the statute of limitations was lifted in 2016.

Charfauros said he kept his secret for years until he heard the testimony of Roy Quintanilla, 52, who came forward in 2016 with allegations of sex abuse by Apuron, who worked in the same rectory as Niland. 

“I always believed that the Vatican would find Apuron guilty. How could they not, after our written and personal testimony? This verdict was a long time coming,” said Quintanilla, who now lives in Hawaii.

Quintanilla said Apuron enjoyed the life of being the archbishop of Guam for three decades.

“I am so glad we stopped being silent. The Vatican’s verdict was made possible because Guam’s faithful stood together against an injustice.  Although it took me 40 years to come forward, I’m glad I did and I am glad for everyone that came forward to tell their story,” he said.




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