Advertisements Generate Calls from Sex Abuse Victims
By Louella Losinio
An undisclosed number of individuals have contacted the Concerned Catholics of Guam since the group's advertisements soliciting victims of sex abuse by members of the clergy came out last month. More alleged victims have been contacting CCOG since the appearance of the ads in local media. Dee Reyes Peredo, one of the points of contact named in the ads, said: “There are victims who are not readily willing to come forward because of pain, embarrassment.” She added that some of those who have contacted the organization would talk about others that they know have been abused or whom they have witnessed being abused. The names are different but the stories are the same all over, she said. Peredo confirmed that calls have been coming from different villages across the island. “There’s numbers,” she said, adding that there are those who are trying to come forward but still trying to gather the strength to do so from people who support them. Peredo spoke to the Post during a protest in front of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagatna urging action against sex abuse by the clergy. CCOG is attempting to find victims of clergy sex abuse with its full-page ads in local print media. The ad has two phone numbers to contact the organization confidentially, but does not provide information on the kind of help the organization will provide. The ad solicits victims of incidents that occurred during specific dates from 1974 to 1984, so filing a class action would be impossible because the statute of limitations has expired. Legislation However, there is currently legislation awaiting action in the Guam Legislature which proposes to 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 sex abuse. Should the bill become law, victims of child sex abuse that occurred on Guam who have been barred from filing suit against their abusers by virtue of the expiration of the civil statute of limitations shall be permitted to file those claims in the Superior Court of Guam. On Wednesday, June 14, Roland Sondia, became the fourth Agat resident to publicly accuse Archbishop Anthony Apuron of sex abuse. Walter Denton spoke earlier this month about his experience. The confession followed an announcement that Pope Francis had relieved Apuron of his duties and appointed an interim apostolic administrator for the archdiocese. In May, alleged victim Roy Quintanilla described to the media how Apuron sexually molested him 40 years ago, also while Apuron was a priest in Agat and Quintanilla was an altar server. Following Quintanilla's accusation, Doris Concepcion – formerly of Guam but now living in Arizona – said her son, Joseph A. Quinata, told her shortly before his death in 2005 of being sexually abused by Apuron in the late 1970s. Last year, John Toves accused Apuron of molesting his cousin in the 1980s when they were seminarians
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