Archdiocese named in $5M sex abuse lawsuit

By Mindy Aguon
Guam Daily Post
July 10, 2018

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/archdiocese-named-in-m-sex-abuse-lawsuit/article_3147da34-8419-11e8-8001-c3d1138691ce.html

ABUSE: A recent civil complaint filed in the District Court of Guam alleges sexual abuse in 1967 at the hands of a priest from Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Church in Chalan Pago.

A former Guam resident has filed a sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana, alleging he was sexually molested and abused by a priest in 1967.

J.V.C., who used initials to protect his identity, now lives in Oregon and alleges he was sexually molested and abused by Antonio Cruz, who is now deceased.

According to the lawsuit filed by his attorney, David Lujan, J.V.C. was raised in a religious family, whose members were devout Catholics and active parishioners at Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Church in Chalan Pago.

Cruz was a priest at the Chalan Pago parish and lived in the rectory on the second floor.

One day after confession, when he was 14, J.V.C. recalled Cruz asking him to bring him a coconut. The boy went to the rectory to deliver it to Cruz and when he opened the door, he saw Cruz sitting on a chair.

The teen was instructed to step inside the room and noticed Cruz was naked and masturbating, court documents state. When the boy was within reach, Cruz allegedly pulled down the boy's shorts and began sexually assaulting him, the court documents allege.

As J.V.C. was leaving, Cruz instructed the boy not to tell anyone, the lawsuit states.

Lujan said his client could no longer handle the pain, humiliation and embarrassment that Cruz had inflicted on him, so he quit participating in confession and eventually quit going to church and stopped being a Catholic.

Cruz died in November 1986 at the age of 62.

The lawsuit seeks $5 million in damages.