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HAGÄTÑA, Guam — Eleven clergy sex abuse cases on Guam will move forward while parties in dozens of other cases try to settle them out of court.
U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan Jr. on Tuesday vacated his April order temporary halting the filing of briefs in clergy sex abuses lawsuits. Manibusan set August deadlines to file motions on 11 of 66 clergy sex abuse cases filed so far in federal court.
The 11 cases are among those the judge earlier expressed concerns over diversity jurisdiction — whether the federal court can entertain the cases because they involve citizens of different states.
They include lawsuits that accuse Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of raping and sexually abusing Agat altar boys; the former altar boys now live in Hawaii and Arizona.
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They also include lawsuits filed by plaintiffs living outside of Guam that accuse Louis Brouillard, a former priest and Boy Scouts of America scoutmaster who lives in Minnesota, as well as former priest David Anderson, defrocked priest Raymond Cepeda, and former priest Joe R. San Agustin, also known as Andrew San Agustin.
The Archdiocese of Agana now faces a total of 86 childhood sexual abuses cases filed in local and federal court since last fall. Five of those cases do not involve a priest.
At the hearing, attorney David Lujan, counsel for all the plaintiffs who filed in federal court, briefed the judge on the status of out-of-court settlement or alternative dispute resolution between his clients and the archdiocese through the Hope and Healing program.
He said he and attorney Mike Caspino, executive director for Hope and Healing, are close to agreeing on which retired California judge will handle the mediation.
"I believe we're making progress," Lujan told Manibusan.
Lujan also said Hope and Healing's Caspino provided him with a copy of the archdiocese's 2014 financial statement, but has yet to provide a copy of the 2015 financial statement, as promised.
Attorney John Terlaje, co-counsel for the archdiocese, said the archdiocese has been assisting Hope and Healing in providing Lujan with necessary documents.
Follow Haidee Eugenio on Twitter: @haidee_eugenio
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