16th priest accused in sex abuse suit

Another Catholic clergy member on Guam has been accused of child sexual abuse, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday.

Father Louis William Rink, who is now deceased, was sued by a former altar boy identified in documents only as R.R.C. to protect his privacy. The lawsuit accuses Rink of abusing the boy, who was 10, in Dededo in the 1980s. Rink is the 16th Guam clergy member accused in court of child sexual abuse.

Rink allegedly molested the boy in the Santa Barbara Catholic Church sacristy and told him that one of the 10 Commandments is "Thou shall Honor your mother and your father," which also includes the priest, the lawsuit states.

"Rink then told R.R.C., 'no one needs to know'," the lawsuit says. "Luckily, someone walked into the sacristy and R.R.C. was able to get away before sexual abuse escalated."

R.R.C., now 43, is the 104th person to file a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana over alleged sex abuse by clergy or others affiliated with the Catholic church.

The lawsuit names the archdiocese, the Congregation of Holy Cross to which Rink belonged, and up to 50 others as defendants.

R.R.C. is represented by attorney David Lujan, and demands $5 million in minimum damages.

After the incident, R.R.C. told Monsignor Zoilo Camacho that Rink had sexually abused him, the lawsuit states. 

Camacho told R.R.C that he just has to keep praying and asking for forgiveness, the complaint states. Camacho also is accused of sexually abusing a minor in a separate case, filed in federal court in June.

Rink first came to Guam in 1985 to serve as chaplain at Father Duenas Memorial School for a year, after spending several years in Congregation of Holy Cross missions to Uganda and Liberia, the lawsuit states. He returned to Guam in 1987 to work for the Archdiocese of Agana, and was assigned to many other places after that.

He died in 2013, when he was about 89, the lawsuit states.