Priest Fondled Boy Who Complained of Stomach Ache

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
October 13, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/10/13/lawsuit-priest-fondled-boy-who-complained-stomach-ache/760612001/


Former priest Andrew Mannetta allegedly fondled a boy around 1985 or 1986, in Talofofo, after telling the boy he would help his stomach pain go away, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court on Friday afternoon.

The plaintiff, identified in court documents only as A.J.B.W., was about 14 or 15 when Mannetta allegedly sexually molested and abused him during a break from cleaning the outside of the San Miguel Catholic Church rectory, the lawsuit states.

A.J.B.W., now 46, is represented by attorney David Lujan. He demands a jury trial and $5 million in minimum damages.

One day, while hanging out around the Talofofo parish, A.J.B.W. told Mannetta that he didn't go to school that day because he had a stomach ache, the lawsuit states. The priest invited the boy inside the rectory for a drink and asked about the area of his stomach that was hurting, the complaint states.

Mannetta asked the boy to sit on his lap so he could massage his stomach to help the pain go away, the lawsuit states. Mannetta then molested him, the complaint states.

"A.J.B.W. was terrified and frightened," the lawsuit says. "Mannetta reassured A.J.B.W. that everything was going to be fine and that he was going to help the pain go away. A.J.B.W. became so uncomfortable that he moved Mannetta's hand away and ran out of the rectory."

The boy quit going to church after that, the lawsuit states. A.J.B.W. and his family attended Mass on a regular basis at the time.

A.J.B.W.'s complaint brings to 133 the number of clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed in local and federal court against the Archdiocese of Agana and others associated with the Catholic Church. The latest lawsuit names the archdiocese and Mannetta.