23 Jun 2017

14th priest of Guam accused of historical sexual assault

1:49 pm on 23 June 2017
Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Guam

Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Guam Photo: 123rf

A 14th priest of Guam has been accused of historical sexual assault, the latest in a year-long paedophilia scandal that has embroiled the island's Catholic Church.

In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, a man claims he was raped and molested by Father Ray Techaira more than 100 times when he was child in the 1980s.

Mr Techaira was now dead, but the lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana and 50 others is demanding a jury trial and US$5 million in damages.

The Pacific Daily News reports the man was the 78th person to file an abuse lawsuit against the island's archdiocese.

Late last year, after a number of allegations surfaced, Guam's government lifted a statute of limitations opening the door for the Catholic Church to be sued for historical cases.

Among those accused was the island's archbishop, Anthony Apuron, who is facing a Vatican trial after several former altar boys accused him of sexual assault in the 1970s, when he was a parish priest.

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