Thursday, October 19, 2017

The Case Against Father Raymond Cepeda

There has been a few alleged victims who came forward claiming that they were sexually abused by Father Raymond Cepeda, who was defrocked on December, 2009.  The latest alleged victim to come out was a 40 year old with the initials P.P.  He claimed that the sexual allegations took place between 1992-1999 at the Santa Barbara Catholic parish in Dededo.  P.P. claimed that he informed Archbishop Apuron and Father Adrian Crisotobal, but was shunned away.  P.P. is being represented by Attorney David Lujan and is suing the Archdiocese for 5 million dollars. According to Pacific News Center:
It is perhaps the longest period of sexual assault that has been reported since the scores of sex abuse lawsuits have been filed, and it appears to be the most recent–the allegations took place between 1992 to 1999.
Filed by now 40-year-old P.P., the alleged sexual assault happened at the Santa Barbara Catholic parish in Dededo—the alleged abuser, now defrocked priest Raymond Cepeda.
The question is.... where was Father Raymond Cepeda assigned during 1992-1999?  In 1997, he was on duty outside the Archdiocese, and he was not assigned to the Dededo parish until 2001.  The following is Father Ray's assignments taken from the Guam Sex Abuse Attorney:


1984-85           Santa Barbara Church                                     Dededo, Guam
1986-87           San Vicente Ferrer                                          Barrigada, Guam
1988-89           Cathedral of Dulce Nombre de Maria            Agana, Guam
1997                On duty outside the Archdiocese                    Agana, Guam
2001-05           Santa Barbara Church                                     Dededo, Guam
2009                Laicized
Furthermore, according to KUAM news dated April 23, 2010 (the bold is mine):
The Guam Catholic Church says abuse allegations against former priest Father Raymond Cepeda date back over five years. Deacon Jeff Barcinas, spokesman for Archbishop Anthony Apuron, tells KUAM News that only one victim that he knows of reported abuse by Fr. Cepeda and he says the victim was not a minor.
Barcinas says the process to laicize Cepeda took several years and required the consent of the Pope. Cepeda, a former priest at the Santa Barbara Church in Dededo, was officially removed from the clergy last December.
"All I know from when the alleged incident was from when the incident was first reported to the Archbishop.  At that time the archbishop did take the necessary action to suspend that time Father Ray Cepeda from any ministry for whoever the victims; and whoever is affected would not be affected by his presence."
I do not think that Deacon Jeff Barcinas (now deceased) would lie that only one sexual abuse was reported against Father Ray Cepeda.  The person whom Father Ray had sexual relations with was an adult.  Nevertheless, Archbishop Apuron removed him anyway.  If the Archbishop would remove a priest from ministry because of a sexual relation with an adult, how much more a minor?  

While it is true that Father Ray broke his vow of celibacy, it is not considered a crime to have sexual relations with a consenting adult in the eyes of civil law. The allegation was not reported to child protective services because the person was an adult. The fact that the incident was not reported to the police also indicates that the sexual act was consensual.

8 comments:

  1. All the more reason why there should be an investigation and not just pay out a settlement fee for all the people claiming sex abuse. And what's with all the anonymous? The accused has a right to know who the accusers are.

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    1. Anonymous @ 4:49 PM: To address your concern "And what's with all the anonymous? The accused has a right to know who the accusers are." The plaintiffs are NOT anonymous. They have just chosen to use initials (for now) to protect their identity as indicated in his lawsuit "Plaintiff, P.P. is identified throughout this complaint by his initials in order to protect his privacy."
      I was able to access the lawsuit through the PNC website:
      http://pacificnewscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/171017-Complaint-PP.pdf

      Anyway once the lawsuits go to court the plaintiffs will have to reveal who they are. They won't be able to just use their initials.

      BTW: I hope Diana takes the time to analyze OTHER lawsuits as well instead of just this one. And only because it specifically mentions NCW clergy members as allegedly ignoring the complaint.

      Delete
    2. Dear Anonymous at 12:13 pm, 

      An investigation is needed to determine the truth. Some of the allegations against Father Brouillard are also questionable. There are women who are accusing Father Brouillard of sexual abuse. In fact, people who are NOT members of the Boys Scouts of America and who are NOT altar servers are even coming out. 

      A sexual predator like Father Brouillard would first gain the trust of a young boy before sexually abusing him. It takes time to gain their trust, and it can be done if the child was a member of the Boy Scouts or an altar server where they had consistent interactions with the predator.

      The law passed by our government is an unjust law. It only opened the door for scammers to defraud the Church for money. More dead priests are being accused of sexual abuse, and these are priests who had an unblemished record for many many years. As long as the law is in effect, the priests who are alive today will later be accused of sexual abuse long AFTER they passed away.

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  2. The dates reported are wrong. I’ve known Pale’ Ray since his first assignment in Santa Barbara Church, Dededo.

    He was associate Pastor in Dededo from 1979-1985. Pastor of San Vicente from 1985-1987. Rector of AgaƱa CB 1987-1994, reassignment due to Msgr David taking cannon law. He was Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes 1994-1995. Sabatical 1996. Pastor of Santa Barbara 1997 -2005. I know he was in Dededo from 1997-2000 because I was assigned in Guam at that time. The late Monsignor + Zoilo retired in 1997 and became Pastor emeritus in Santa Barbara Parish until he passed away in 2008. Santa Barbara was my parish until I left for active duty in the military in 1989.

    And no, I am not one of the accusers. I just want to set this record straight.

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    1. Dear Richard, 

      Thank you for the information. The accuser P.P. claimed that he was sexually abused by Father Ray for 8 years at the Dededo parish from 1992-1999. Your information showed that Father Ray was not even at the Dededo parish until 1997.

      Delete
  3. This has nothing to do with the topic.
    I was googling the videos of the gennarini arrival to Guam from last year. Why has nobody spoken about how the videos have been sanitized to minimize how brutal the ccog was?

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 7:19 am,

      It was on my blog. See the weblink below:

      http://neocatechemunal.blogspot.com/2017/05/love-those-who-persecute-you.html?m=1

      Delete
    2. Wow! Looks like this guy is only out to defraud the church.

      Delete