GUAM
KUAM
Updated: Jun 13, 2016
By Krystal Paco
“I’m glad he’s home,” said Greg Babauta. “Now I’ve got a place to come and visit him.” Choking back tears, Babauta remembers his childhood best friend, Joseph Anthony Quinata, better known as “Sonny” or “Chico.” Babauta recalled, “Sonny was always a jokester. Growing up we were constantly together. We hung out together. We grew up in Agat. If there’s one thing that can describe Sonny, he was a jokester. Anything and everything to make people laugh, and that was his big thing.”
Sonny is one of the alleged victims of Archbishop Anthony Apuron. On his deathbed back in 2005, he told his mother, Doris Concepcion, he was molested by then-Father Anthony Apuron. Concepcion kept her son’s secret until most recently when she came forward and joined other Apuron accusers. In recent weeks, Roy Quintanilla came forward alleging he too was molested, and Walter Denton who alleges he was raped. Each of the boys were altar boys in Agat, and so was Babauta, although he was not targeted by Apuron.
Babauta says he never knew his best friend’s secret, adding, “It’s hard. We served together. I was also an altar boy. But growing up we weren’t aware of those situations. The boys actually kept it locked away and now that all these allegations are coming out, it’s kind of hard for us to hear our friends talk about it. And for me, I support them. Because for me personally, there’s no other reason why they would say or make these accusations other than the truth.”
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.