Diocese of Alexandria Accused Priests

The Diocese of Alexandria includes the following parishes: Avoyelles, Rapides, Vernon, Natchitoches, Winn, Caldwell, Madison, Franklin, Tensas, Concordia, Catahoula, Lasalle, and Grant. In February 2019, the Diocese released the names of 27 priests incardinated within the widespread religious institution deemed “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children based on written allegations. The list of more than two dozen names includes priests assigned to the Shreveport area, which had a place within the Diocese until 1986.

The list consists of the following priests: Raymond M. Jones, Donald Rogers, Victor Sepsi, Gielse Boyer, Nino Viviano, Theodore Lelieveld, Yves Robitaille, Adrian Molenschot, Frederick Lyons, Edward Terry Allen, John Wesley Andries, William Allison, William Cody Bressler, Paul Conway, Francis O. Couvillion, Francis Patrick Donohoe, Harvey Fortier, John Franklin, Robert Friend, Edmund Gagne, Moise Richard Gremillion, Michael G. Hannon, Kenneth Matthews, H. Clinton Teacle, Joseph Tisch, Leger Tremblay, and Leo Van Hoorn.

The Diocese also listed Gilbert Gauthe, noting that he was incardinated in another diocese but accused of sexually abusing minors while in the Diocese of Alexandria. Finally, the Diocese listed the following priests “accused of sexual misconduct with minors while serving in the Diocese of Alexandria”: Charles Dekeukelare, Norman Rogge, Louis Senesac, and Antonio Valez-Lopez.

One of the most widely known priests accused of sexual abuse in the Diocese was Reverend Frederick James Lyons. In 2013, after his victims accused him of sexually abusing minors, the church investigated and sentenced him to a life of prayer and penance and stripped him of his priestly duties.

In June 2019, the Diocese added three more names to the list: Adrian Molenschot, Nino Viviano, and Yves Robitaille. All three priests worked in Avoyelles Parish and faced the following accusations:

• Adrian Molenschot served as a pastor of St. Martin of Tours in Belledeau for decades. In February 2019, the church received an allegation that he sexually abused male minors dating back to the 1960s. Molenschot died in 1994.
• Nino Viviano presumably sexually abused a female minor in the 1960s. Despite the alleged abuse happening decades earlier, the Diocese didn’t receive the allegations until February 2019. When his name hit the list, he lived in a nursing home in Florida, and his dementia prevented him from participating in the allegations against him.
• The third priest, Yves Robitaille, served at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marksville and St. Paul in Mansura. In March 2019, the church received reports that he sexually abused a male minor dating back to the mid-1950s. He died in 1998.

In September 2019, the Diocese added Theodore Lelieveld to the list after he faced credible accusations of committing sexual abuse of minors in the mid-1960s. Lelieveld was murdered in a church rectory in Claiborne Parish in 1976 at the age of 50. The murderer, who shot and killed Lelieveld while standing at the rectory’s front door, was later convicted and sentenced for the crime.

The Diocese of Alexandria declined to release the names of the parishes the priests were assigned to, asserting they were trying to protect parishioners in those parishes. However, several parishioners expressed anger over the Diocese’s refusal to provide the pertinent information. The parishioners argued that the Diocese’s failure to provide such vital details didn’t help stop the abuse when the places where abusive priests worked and abuse happened remained hidden.

Unlike the Diocese of Alexandria, other dioceses in Louisiana included the names of the parishes where the abusive priests worked to prevent further harm. However, the Diocese of Alexandria did disclose other information, including the victims’ ages and genders and whether diocesan boards held hearings in response to the allegations. The Diocese also revealed whether it paid settlements to victims, but it didn’t disclose amounts of such payouts.

As of June 2021, the Lousiana Legislature put an end to the statute of limitations (or time restriction) to file child sex abuse lawsuits to pursue compensation for your injuries and emotional suffering in civil court. Legislators passed House Bill 492 to help victims pursue justice and receive closure for the crimes committed against them, according to Rep. Jason Hughes, D-New Orleans.

The bill not only replaces dated and stringent filing restrictions for child sexual abuse survivors but also provides a three-year look-book window. This window extends to all child victims now in adulthood past the previously barred age of 28, giving them a new opportunity to seek civil justice.

No matter how long ago the abuse happened or how old you currently are, Louisiana law entitles you to seek civil justice for your suffering. If you or someone you love experienced child sex abuse at the Diocese of Alexandria, contact the lawyers at Herman Law today for a free consultation. Act quickly to take advantage of the look-back window.