NEOCATS. NEOCATS. NEOCATS. IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME ANSWER.

By Tim Rohr

Apuron's recent pathetic claim to "innocence" after the civil cases against him were voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs is made all the more stupid by the fact that guilt and innocence can only be adjudicated in criminal cases, and these were not criminal cases. They were civil liability cases. 

The 2016 statute that permitted legal action against Apuron was a law that lifted the CIVIL statute of limitations on sex abuse of minors. This means that Apuron could only be found LIABLE or NOT LIABLE, not INNOCENT or GUILTY. 

The only court that had the authority to find Apuron GUILTY was the Vatican court. And, as Archbishop Jimenez reaffirmed yesterday:

While the Archdiocese respects the decisions of the victims of the former archbishop to end their cases before civil authorities, it remains the fact that on 07 February 2019, he was found guilty of committing abuse against minors. That determination was made following a canonical investigation and penal trial conducted by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith in Rome. That determination led to the former bishop losing his rank and duties as the leader of the Catholic Church on Guam, as well as a perpetual prohibition preventing him from returning to Guam or presenting himself with the insignia attached to the rank of bishop. Nothing about that determination has changed.

(Emphases added)

Apuron's attorney, Jacqueline Terlaje, knows this, yet she trotted him out onto the public stage to take a bow and proclaim that the voluntary dismissal in a civil case proved his "innocence!" What a joke! But why would she do this? Neocats, Neocats, Neocats. It's always the same answer. 

+++++

By the way, the above picture of the "trained lawyer" (as she calls herself), is from a 2017 article titled: "Apuron not considering settling lawsuits till canonical trial is over." In the article Atty. Terlaje is quoted as saying: 

"I am not considering, my client is not considering settling any cases until such time as a canonical trial is complete." 

So, apparently as far back as 2017, the option to settle was already being considered by Apuron. Apparently he changed his mind after he got rid of his largest assets, if not all of them - as I set out in this post.