GUAM
KUAM
[with video]
Updated: Apr 06, 2017
By Krystal Paco
The numbers are climbing. “I don’t know when the end is for the number of suits coming forward,” said Archbishop Michael Byrnes. “We’ll deal with them as they come. And our prayers multiply.” The coadjutor notes the litany of lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Agana, both in local and federal courts.
The archbishop attended today’s Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Assault Awareness Month resolution and proclamation signing, where it was evident – this is an islandwide problem. “I was encouraged today by seeing a community-wide awareness to this,” His Excellency shared with KUAM News. “We’ve become very aware in the church and just knowing that we’re not alone in that awareness is a big help.”
Yet another filing was made on Thursday in the Superior Court of Guam, this time from a former altar boy at the Nuestra Senora de las Aguas Church in Mongmong. Only identified by his initials “D.C.”, he alleges he was sexually molested by his priest, Father Antonio Cruz in the late 1950s when he was 13 or 14 years old. The plaintiff alleges the priest groomed him for the sexual assault to come – complimenting him and allowing him to drink communion wine.
He alleges the priest took him on a car ride, but parked hidden in the jungle stating “I want something from you.” He alleges the priest asked him about his experiences with girls and performed oral sex on him. The priest would later bribe him not to tell anyone. D.C. quit as an altar boy and stopped attending mass. Cruz passed away in 1986.
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