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Archbishop Anthony Apuron speaks May 18, 2016, at the Academy of Our Lady of Guam commencement ceremony at the Phoenix Center in Chalan Pago Ordot, Guam.(Photo: Mark Scott, Pacific (Guam) Daily News)
HAGÅTÑA, Guam<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The Archdiocese of Agaña is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>working with a prominent U.S. law firm and an independent investigator to look into recent sexual-abuse allegations made against its archibishop, officials said Friday.
Deacon Steve Martinez, former coordinator of a church group charged with reviewing abuse allegations involving clergy, said Wednesday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that Archbishop Anthony Apuron<span style="color: Red;">*</span>purposely kept the archdiocese’s sexual-abuse policy weak to protect himself.
Church officials said Friday they would defend themselves<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in addition to looking into what they called rumors.
"The only avenue, which we are following, is recourse to the civil and canonical legal processes to address these intentional lies,” according to an archidiocese statement. "These intentional lies oblige the archbishop to take appropriate and immediate canonical measures in regard to Stephen Martinez.”
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The statement did not identify Martinez as a deacon, an ordained minister in the Roman Catholic Church who has the power to baptize, witness marriages and conduct funeral services. He was the coordinator of a group in Guam's Catholic church charged with reviewing sexual-abuse allegations until<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Apuron ousted him in 2014, soon after he sent letters in July and August 2014 to the archbishop calling the local church's abuse policy weak and flawed, designed to protect clergy but not children.
The archbishop has sole authority to determine what sexual-abuse allegations are investigated and what results are disseminated, even if he is the one accused, Martinez said.
On Friday, Martinez called the archbishop's response to the brewing scandal incompetent on several levels, saying<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Apuron failed to:
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Strengthen<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the sex-abuse policy flaws that Martinez notified him about two years ago.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Initiate investigations into recent allegations from Roy Quintanilla, a 52-year-old man now living in Honolulu who said Apuron molested him 40 years ago when he was a 12-year-old altar boy, and Doris Y. Concepcion, who now lives in Prescott, Ariz., and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said that before her son Joseph “Sonny” A. Quinata died in 2005 he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told her that Apuron molested him in the 1970s.
•<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Remove himself from his position while any investigation is taking place.
The archbishop decided to attack “rather than reach out to them with care and support,” Martinez said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“Perhaps the true test of competence would be to rapidly commence an independent and professional investigation of the sex abuse allegations brought forward in 2015 and 2016.”
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Archbishop of Guam denies molestation allegations
In its statement, the archdiocese called Martinez incompetent, saying<span style="color: Red;">*</span>it is facing “one allegation — contradicted by other testimonies — and some unsubstantiated rumors of sexual abuse.”
“We are dealing with unproven allegations, not with proven crimes,” according to the statement. “To insult the archbishop as Mr. Martinez did is not only against any Christian standard, but also below any standard of due process which have to be granted to every person: A man is innocent until proven guilty, and the archbishop has adamantly denied these allegations.”
The Vatican has not weighed in on the allegations.
USA TODAY
Man alleges Guam archbishop molested him as a child
In 2011, Guam<span style="color: Red;">*</span>abolished the statute of limitations<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on prosecuting sex crimes against children. Apuron<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has not been charged with any crime.
The Archdiocese of Agana’s media release does not specify whether the law firm or the independent investigator will look into the sexual-abuse allegations against the archbishop.
When asked for additional details about the scope of work, the Archdiocese of Agaña's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>chancellor, Father Adrian Cristobal, would not elaborate but said the archbishop always has taken any sex-abuse allegations seriously.
Follow the Pacific Daily News on Twitter:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>@GuamPDN
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