Diocese of Baton Rouge Accused Priests

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge comprises twelve parishes in South Central Louisiana, including Assumption, Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. James, Tangipahoa, West Feliciana, and West Baton Rouge.

In 2018, then-Bishop Michael Duca announced that the Catholic Church hired a law firm to look into the church’s personnel files to gather information regarding past sexual abuse by priests. Bishop Duca promised that the church would be transparent in disclosing what the investigation uncovered.

In February 2019, the Diocese released the names of 37 clergy members whom the Diocese deemed to be “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of minors. The Diocese compiled the list after investigators searched through the religious institution’s 1,033 clergy files, beginning from the formation of the Diocese in 1961.

The list includes the following named priests: John Berube, Clarence Joseph Biggers, Daniel Patrick Brady, Carmelo Ignatius Camenzuli, David William Chaloux, David Joseph Clark, James Preston Clement, John Coyne, Daniel Michael Drinan, Bryan James Fontenot, James Funnel, George David Gensler, Antonio Gonzalez, Bryan Keith Gray, Rodrigue Alphonse Hemond, Gerard Joseph Howell, Myles Joseph Kearney, Clyde Bernard Landry, Daniel Paul Lemoine, Nicholas Joseph Martrain, Salvador Nickie (Butch) Moran, Jesse Ray Ortego, Christopher Joseph Springer, Joseph Vincent Sullivan, Joseph LeFrois, Henry Neubig, John Anthony Weber, Pierre Celestin Cambiaire, John Franklin, Michael Hurley, Ralph Lawrence, Malcolm Strassel, Lawrence Hecker, Jody Blanchard, Thomas J. Naughton, C. Richard Nowery, and Joseph Pelletieri. The last four priests listed didn’t have credible allegations against them in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, but the Archdiocese of New Orleans identified them.

In January 2020, the Diocese added Dominican Friar Richard Raphael Archer and Priest Lawrence Dark to the names of clergy members credibly accused of sexual abuse. Both men worked in Baton Rouge during their service with the Diocese, and both men were already on the list compiled by the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Dark served as chaplain of Warren Eastern Senior High School in New Orleans, and he also held an assignment to serve as assistant pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church. He moved to Baton Rouge to help establish a home for troubled boys, and he opened the Reynolds Institute in the 1960s in New Orleans. The house was moved twice, eventually to Bill Anderson Boys Town in Ponchatoula. The Diocese referred to the boys’ home as the William E. Anderson Memorial Boys Town.

Dark died in 1984, and many revered him for a long time for his work helping teenage boys overcome troubled pasts having nowhere else to go. Dark’s sexual abuse first came to light ten years after his death, and a second allegation surfaced in 2008. Child sex abuse survivors accused Dark of sexually abusing boys in the 1960s and 1970s at the home he created to be the children’s safe harbor.

In June 2021, the Louisiana Legislature passed a law allowing victims of child sex abuse three years to file a civil lawsuit if they missed their chance before. The law goes into effect on August 1, 2021, and covers victims of child sexual abuse who previously faced a bar to seek civil damages once they reached their 28th birthday. In passing the law, the bill’s sponsor, New Orleans Representative Jason Hughes, noted that the average age for a person to report sexual abuse that happened to them as a child is 52 years old.

Since this law is going into effect soon, you may be able to file a claim even if the abuse you endured happened decades ago. You don’t have to go through the difficult healing journey alone after suffering child sexual abuse. Whether you choose to seek therapy, treatment, or other recovery methods, you may be entitled to compensation from the Diocese of Baton Rouge and your abuser.

It’s important to seek justice against both the institution that allowed the abuse to happen and the perpetrator. Additionally, speaking out about the abuse you suffered can help bring awareness to the problem, expose the identity of your abuser, and potentially prevent future instances of child sex abuse from happening.

If you or someone you love experienced child sexual abuse at the Diocese of Baton Rouge, contact the lawyers at Herman Law today for a free consultation.