HAGÅTÑA (GUAM)
Marianas Variety
August 10, 2018
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
A former student at Father Duenas Memorial School on Guam is the latest to file a sex-abuse complaint against the disgraced Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, former head of the Archdiocese of Agana, who was earlier convicted by the Vatican in connection with similar cases.
The new case was filed Aug. 8 in the Guam Superior Court by a Saipan resident — identified in the court document as D.M.— alleging that Apuron sexually abused him in the clergy’s residence in Agana Heights during weekends between 1994 and 1995. D.M was then 14.
The lawsuit details the sexual acts Apuron allegedly performed on D.M. on several occasions. “D.M. wanted to escape from Apuron’s house. He wanted to tell someone but felt he couldn’t. The 14-year-old-old D.M. just cried himself to sleep, the lawsuit states.
Since Father Duenas did not offer weekend boarding, it was arranged between the school and the archbishop that the boy would stay at the residence of Apuron. According to court documents, the first overnight was a frightening preview of what was to come. The lawsuit alleges that Apuron first came into the sleeping boy’s room as if to check on his well being, but instead groped him sexually. Later, the boy awoke to find Apuron on top of him, raping him.
D.M. said he did not know how to handle the situation as Apuron was the head of Church on Guam. “D.M. was alone and scared. He felt like there was no one to talk to about what Apuron had done. He had no one to reach out to for help,” according to the lawsuit filed by attorney Charles H. McDonald II on behalf of D.M.
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