HAGÅTÑA (GUAM)
USA TODAY Network / Pacific Daily News
October 17, 2017
By Haidee V Eugenio
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood on Tuesday ordered Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, or his attorney, to participate in premediation talks to try to settle 134 Guam clergy sex abuse cases.
Apuron’s attorney, Jacqueline Terlaje, who participated at a status hearing Tuesday afternoon via phone, confirmed they will take part in the talks. Judge Alex Munson will be the discovery monitor and California-based Antonio Piazza has been recommended to serve as a mediator.
Apuron has a pending motion to dismiss four clergy sex abuse cases filed against him, saying they are time-barred and infringe upon his constitutional rights. He also earlier asked the civil court to wait for the results of his Vatican canonical trial before seeking to include him in mediation.
Earlier in October, Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes, who currently is in charge of the Catholic Church on Guam, said he was told by a Vatican official that a decision has been made in Apuron’s trial. Byrnes, however, said he has yet to receive information on the specific charges and the specific verdict, as well as the punishment, because the judges have yet to sign off on the decisio
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