GUAM
Pacific News Center
By Janela Carrera – August 24, 2017
Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s canonical trial is still pending in Rome.
Guam – Dethroned Archbishop Anthony Apuron, through his legal counsel Atty. Jacque Terlaje, is continuing his fight against four lawsuits filed against him in federal court for civil damages related to sex abuse allegations.
Terlaje responded to the alleged victims’ attempts to keep the cases alive, arguing that the passage of the law in 2016 does not apply retroactively. In 2016, the statute of limitations for civil claims of sex abuse was lifted, giving way for victims of sexual abuse to seek damages against their perpetrators and the institutions they either worked or volunteered for.
But Terlaje once again argues that the law is ambiguous in its detail surrounding the timeframe for filing these civil claims. She believes the law does not apply retroactively.
Terlaje points to a line in the statute that states “at any time,” which she says is not a sufficient expression of legislative intent for the statute to be applied retroactively.
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