Former Deacon George Brignac was awaiting trial on a rape charge when he died last week, halting a trial. Brignac was one of 15 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse dating back when he worked at Our Lady of the Rosary in New Orleans in the 1970s.
“These men are aging, and we don’t want them to age out of being punished for sex crimes … against children,” said Kevin Bourgeois, with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Bourgeois says when he was 16, he was abused by a priest, Carl Davidson at St. John Vianney Prep School in New Orleans.Â
“You have generations of survivors that are alive today that still are living in pain and living in a sense of needing to have a sense of justice,” Bourgeois said.
Bourgeois stands in protest with other alleged victims of living priests and deacons who allegedly abused them as kids, and want authorities to launch investigations into their abuse claims. They claim Archbishop Gregory Aymond has relevant information that would substantiate their cases.
The archdiocese issued the following statement for this story:
“Most importantly, we offer our prayers for victims and survivors of abuse. The Archdiocese of New Orleans abides by all mandatory reporting laws of the state of Louisiana. We have reported clergy named on the 2018 report on clergy abuse to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. We pledge our full and continued cooperation into any law enforcement investigations just as we cooperated in the investigation of George Brignac.”
