Denton Attends Agat Prayer Vigil
By Louella Losinio
Walter Denton, who has accused Archbishop Anthony Apuron of sexual molestation, yesterday attended a prayer vigil in Agat, the site of his alleged rape, and disclosed that he has spoken to other victims of sex abuse by the archbishop. “I’ve spoken with other victims but it is up to those victims to come out,” Denton said. “I am encouraging them to please come out.” Denton and Doris Concepcion, accompanied by family and supporters, walked the path toward the building which used to be the rectory of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Agat - the same building where Denton said then-parish priest, now Archbishop Anthony Apuron raped him nearly four decades ago. Denton and Concepcion, the mother of Joseph Quinata, comforted each other at the steps of the building, which is now an administration office of Mount Carmel School. Conception has said that Quinata told her he was sexually abused by Apuron in the late 1970s shortly before his death in 2005. “That is the door that I opened but couldn’t go anywhere. That is the door that I opened up. It was so dark outside. I couldn’t leave. I was so afraid. I closed that door and I just stayed in that living room,” Denton said. At one point, he pointed to a section of the building and tearfully said, “That's where it happened, right there. That's the room, right there where everything happened." “Sonny,” Concepcion said, referring to her son. “I hope you are looking, son. I know you are in heaven. We are doing something about it.” Supporters placed candles and flowers before the building and Deacon Steve Martinez offered a prayer, “For all altar servers in Agat. Those who were victims and those who were not, we pray for all of them and give thanksgiving for the service that they gave to the church. Healing Martinez also prayed for the healing of the victims. “That they may move beyond the incident that took place so many years ago.” According to Martinez, when they were looking at the names of altar servers from Agat, they came upon the names of 10 to 12 who served in the time frame of the alleged incidents who have died. Denton said the incident “changed the direction of his life,” and he described how the abuse occurred when he was an altar server in April 1977 and Apuron asked him to stay overnight at the rectory. He said Wednesday was not the first time that he reported the incident. The first disclosure was to a priest years after the abuse. But it was not addressed. He also told the media yesterday about informing Archbishop Martin Krebs, who is currently the apostolic delegate to several Pacific islands. He felt that they believed his statements. “I’m just hoping that they do something with what is happening now. I’m just hoping that they would change the policy,” Denton said. “They have to change it. I didn’t realize that he broke his own policy,” Concepcion said. The revision of the archdiocese's policy on handling claims of sexual abuse by clergy was recently raised by Martinez. He criticized the archbishop for purposely implementing weak sexual misconduct policies in order to protect himself and his inner circle. Moreover, these policies may have allowed additional cases of sexual abuse by different perpetrators, according to Martinez. Martinez served as sexual abuse response coordinator for the archdiocese from 2011 to 2014. During that time, Martinez wrote several letters to Apuron expressing his concern about the sexual misconduct policy. Legislation With the incidents having occurred decades ago, the current statutes of limitations governing child sexual abuse cases have become a concern. There is currently proposed legislation awaiting action at the Guam Legislature which would address this concern. Bill 326, introduced by Sen. Frank Blas Jr., seeks to lift the statute of limitations for filing civil actions against perpetrators of child sexual abuse. Should the bill become law, victims of child sexual abuse that occurred on Guam who have been barred from filing suit against their abusers due to the expiration of the statute of limitations would be permitted to file those claims in the Guam Superior Court. “The ongoing issues regarding child sex abuse not just in our church but in the entire community is what prompted me to introduce this legislation," Blas told the Post. "Bill No. 326-33 removes the two-year statute of limitations for the initiation of civil litigation against perpetrators of child sexual abuse." The bill has been referred to Sen. Frank Aguon who is in the process of scheduling a public hearing on the measure.
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