HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man was charged with multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct and child abuse after three children in his care were seen by Guam Police Department officers to have visible injuries.
Anthony Joseph San Nicolas Meno, 27, was the subject of a walk-in child abuse complaint made at the Hågat Precinct after Child Protective Services took custody of three minors, two of whom were noticed by elementary school workers to have injuries, a magistrate’s complaint stated.
One of the minors, an 11-year-old girl, had small bruises on her forehead and cheek area and accused Meno of inappropriately touching her and hitting her twice, according to the complaint.
She said one of the instances of abuse occurred after Halloween in 2022, while she was asleep in the living room of a Barrigada residence “when she awoke to the defendant touching her private parts underneath her clothing,” according to the complaint.
The second and third alleged abuses were committed on April 21, when she woke up to Meno touching her underneath her clothing, and on April 27, when Meno hit her on the head and cheek “for taking cereal without asking.”
The complaint stated a 7-year-old boy accused Meno of assaulting him on April 22 because Meno became upset with the minor. Meno allegedly spanked the 7-year-old in the buttocks approximately four times, punched the child in the side and kicked his leg.
The 7-year-old also alleged Meno “punched his stomach multiple times in the past,” according to the complaint.
Another boy, 9, had swelling on his right shoulder along with “several purple and blue bruises on his buttocks.”
The child alleged Meno a year ago was upset the boy took snacks, and assaulted him. The child stated he was spanked, smacked in the face and head, and punched in the stomach and side.
“(The boy) vomited as a result of being punched, and the defendant made him clean it up. The defendant then forced (the boy’s) head into the toilet bowl and flushed the toilet with (the boy’s) head in the toilet,” the complaint stated.
Meno was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct as first-degree felonies, three counts of child abuse as misdemeanors and three counts of family violence as misdemeanors. The Office of the Attorney General stated Meno faces 26 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
Meno was charged April 29 and then committed to the Department of Corrections on $10,000 cash bail by Magistrate Judge Jonathan Quan, the AG’s office added in its summary report of the magistrate’s hearing.
The Guam Judicial Center in Hagåtña is shown in December 2022.
