GUAM
KUAM
[with video]
Updated: Aug 01, 2016
By Krystal Paco
A public hearing for a substitute version of Bill 326 turned into the tearful testimony of one alleged victim of child sex abuse by multiple members of the church. While Archbishop Anthony Apuron has had four alleged victims come forward and accuse him of molestation, three others of the Archdiocese of Agana stand accused as of today.
Not once, but three times 73-year-old Leo Tudela alleges he fell victim to child sex abuse in the church. In support of a substitute version of Bill 326, which lifts the statute of limitations for such cases, he detailed three painful and personal memories as a young altar boy leaving his home in Saipan to live in Guam to attend Catholic school. The year was 1956.
“While I was staying at the Capuchin Fathers Monastery in Agana Heights, one night in the early morning hours, I was awakened by someone touching my private area, my penis, and massaging and masturbating me,” he recalled, tearing up repeatedly. “He told me, ‘It’s okay. I’m Brother Mariano.’ I told him to please leave me alone, but he continued to do what he was doing.”
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