Former priest Andrew San Agustin corrects court filing, denies sex abuse allegation

By Haidee V. Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
May 22, 2018

https://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2018/05/22/former-priest-andrew-san-agustin-corrects-court-filing-denies-sex-abuse-allegation/631649002/

The Guam flag waves in the tropical breeze with the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica steeple set in the background on May 23, 2017. Photo by Rick Cruz

A former Archdiocese of Agana priest on Monday corrected a previous court filing by inserting the word "alleged" in defending himself from an allegation that he sexually abused a girl from Saipan when she vacationed on Guam in 1963.

"While making this correction, defendant takes the added opportunity to again deny the accusation of clergy sex abuse which he supposedly did on 'B.T.', and requests — and looks forward to — a trial by jury at the earliest," former priest Andrew San Agustin said in a May 21 court filing.

San Agustin, who voluntarily left the priesthood and is now known as Joe R. San Agustin, is representing himself in the case. He had said he can't afford legal counsel.

He said the correct phrase in his Feb. 21, 2018 filing should now read, "After the 'alleged' first time that the sexual assault took place, plaintiff should have taken every precaution to prevent yet another assault."

"In hindsight, I admit that the word 'alleged' was inadvertently omitted through haste and lack of diligent attention. My apologies to the court. What a world of difference the inadvertent omission of a single word could possibly have made," San Agustin said. "There never was a 'first assault' — or any assault thereafter — as the word 'first' could possibly imply, or seems to imply."

San Agustin's accuser, identified in court documents only as B.T., seeks $5 million in minimum damages. B.T., a resident of Saipan, alleged in her April 2017 lawsuit that San Agustin sexually abused her when she was on Guam in 1963.

The former priest filed a counter-claim, stating he's also been harmed by the accusations against him and asked the court to award damages for pain and suffering in an amount the court may reasonably determine.

Nearly 170 Guam clergy sex abuse cases have been filed in local and federal court since 2016 against the Archdiocese of Agana, priests, other clergy and others associated with the Catholic Church.