Priest raped and molested boy more than 100 times, new lawsuit alleges

HAGATNA, Guam — A 14th Guam priest is accused of raping and sexually molesting a boy more than 100 times in the 1980s, starting on the boy's seventh birthday, in a lawsuit filed Thursday.

Father Ray Techaira allegedly raped and sexually molested the boy from 1984 through 1987, the lawsuit filed in the District Court of Guam says. Techaira is now dead, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiff, identified in court documents only as J.A. to protect his identity, is now 40 years old and is living in Oregon.

J.A., represented by attorney David Lujan, demands a jury trial and $5 million in minimum damages.

The alleged rape and molestation happened mostly at the Nino Perdido y Sagrada Familia Catholic Church in Asan, Guam, the lawsuit says.

"From approximately 1984 through 1987, around the ages of 7 through 10, J.A. was sexually molested and raped by Techaira more than one-hundred times," the lawsuit states.

J.A. is suing the Archdiocese of Agana and up to 50 other unnamed defendants.

J.A. is the 78th plaintiff to file a sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana. Of those, three did not name priests in their lawsuits.

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The sexual abuse, according to the lawsuit, began on J.A.'s seventh birthday. That day, he was helping his grandfather clean the Asan church by wiping the pews, the lawsuit says.

The priest allegedly instructed the boy to go to the Asan parish rectory to get his birthday gift, and that's where the first sexual abuse happened, the lawsuit says.

"Afterwards, Techaira gave J.A. $20 and told J.A. that what just occurred should be kept a secret and would make J.A. a 'good Catholic'," the lawsuit says.

Later that year in 1984, J.A. was raped by Techaira in the rectory during the Asan fiesta, the lawsuit says.

"The sexual abuse and rape continued for the next two years, up until J.A. refused to help clean the church and no longer went to the Asan Parish," the complaint adds.

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