Ad calls on sex crime victims to step forward and speak out

GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

By Krystal Paco

It’s the latest of accusations against the Archdiocese of Agana. An advertisement published over the weekend suggests there’s victims of sex crimes who have kept quiet because their alleged molester is the head of the island’s Catholic church.

Like the popular church hymn says, be not afraid. “The only way to stop this is to come out and come forward,” said Tim Rohr, a blogger and concerned resident. Big and bold, a full-page ad in a print publication over the weekend suggests there’s been sex crimes occurring in the local church community for over four decades and calls on alleged victims to speak out.

Said Rohr, “Because they’re from here, they have the pressure from their family, their culture, the church, family embarrassment, all these things that have kept them quiet for 40 years. I’m just saying that enough is enough 0953 this diocese has been completely broken.”

Rohr confirms the ad was paid for by the Concerned Catholics of Guam, a group formed in 2014 in response to various areas of concern within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana. According to Rohr, an alleged victim spoke out late last year…that as a young alter boy in Agat, he was molested. “The ad is targeted at finding out who else is out there. Because these things don’t happen in isolation. We know that kind of a practice is basically serial. That there’s a long period of where kids are groomed and selected and targeted,” he said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.