Why did it take the archbishop's accusers so long to come forward?

By Krystal Paco
KUAM
June 20, 2016

http://www.kuam.com/story/32258102/2016/06/20/why-did-it-take-the-archbishops-accusers-so-long-to-come-forward

Now four individuals have surfaced in recent weeks accusing Archbishop Anthony Apuron of rape or molestation. While decades have passed since the alleged incidents, many have questioned why the victims waited so long to come forward. Here's what medical professionals have to say.

Experts call the condition "delayed disclosure". Maresa Aguon explained, "We get people who come in decades after the abuse has occurred. Something prompts them to come forward. Something prompts them to tell somebody." As program manager for Healing Hearts Crisis Center, Guam's only crisis center since 1993, in light of recent accusations made against the archbishop, she says victims will often wait before reporting, especially because Guam is such a small island community.

"A lot of times these children are abused by somebody in power or by somebody that they love and trust. They understand these complexities. Even as children as young as 10 to 12 years old, they understand certain things such as if I come forward, people may not believe me. Sometimes they're told explicitly that nobody's going to believe them," she explained.

This appears to be the case for most of Apuron's accusers: Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton, and Roland Sondia. They are joined by Doris Concepcion, whose son Joseph "Sonny" Quinata who was on his deathbed over a decade ago when he confided in his mother he, too, was a victim. Each of the surviving victims reported trusting Apuron, who was a priest at Mount Carmel Church in Agat at the time of the alleged incidents.

Each of the men has expressed no interest in prosecuting Apuron, but instead have demanded he step down as head of the Agana archdiocese as well as make a public apology.

"Most adult survivors of child sex abuse are not looking for that - they're not looking to put their perpetrator in jail. They're not looking to seek restitution," Aguon stated. "They're not doing this for the perpetrator, they're doing this for themselves, for their own healing. They're doing this for their own closure. It's about them."

And it's never too late to start healing, as she said, "Disclosure is not an event it's a process. It's a process that starts when the incident occurs and continues through when the child has to go through the mental process of trying to question themselves - why did this happen to me? Is any of this my fault? Who's going to believe me? Who can I turn to?"

Healing Hearts services to up to 150 victims per year, majority of who are minors and female. While that sounds like a big number, national statistics report up to 80% of sexual assault and abuse cases go unreported.