Diocese of Lafayette Accused Priests

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette includes the parishes of St. Landry, Evangeline, Lafayette, St. Martin, Iberia, St. Mary, Acadia, and Vermillion. The Diocese consists of Cajun, Louisiana. Like many other dioceses throughout the world, the Diocese of Lafayette has been the subject of many allegations of child sexual abuse by priests. As of 2004, the Diocese paid out about $26 million to settle claims with 123 victims that priests abused between 1950 and 2002.

In April 2019, after initially refusing to release names, the Diocese released a list of 33 priests and four deacons credibly accused of sexual abuse. The Diocese named the following priests and deacons: Joseph Alexander, Jules Arceneaux, Susai Arul, Stanley Begnaud, Michael Benedict, David Broussard, J. Richard Chachere, David Anderson Coupar, Hebert de Launay, John deLeeuw, Michael DesJardins, John Anthony Engbers, Ronald Lane Fontenot, Gilbert John Gauthe, Aldeo Fernand Gilbert, Michael Guidry, Lloyd Hebert, Michael Herpin, Marshall Larrivere, Robert Limoges, Keith Anthony Potier, David Primeaux, Valerie Pullman, Harry Quick, Richard Riebolt, Robie Robichaux, Jody Simoneaux, Gerard Smit, Jean Touissaint, Adrian Walter Van Hal, Cornelius Van Merrianboer, Rosaire Veilleux, Charles Zaunbrecher, Lester Breaux, Willis Broussard, Leonard J. Freyou, and Louis Hanemann.

However, the list did not include nuns or religious order priests and lacked details about the alleged abuse, such as when or where it happened.

The most widely publicized case of sexual abuse by a priest in the Diocese involved former Priest Gilbert Gauthe. Gauthe served in the Diocese of Lafayette from 1972 to 1983, and he was the first priest in the US to be tried criminally for child sexual abuse. Gauthe admitted to sodomizing and raping 37 children, beginning in 1972. Gauthe served 20 years in prison, was released early, and was later arrested for sexually abusing a child in Texas.

In early 2021, a Louisiana state appellate court ruled that the Diocese was required to provide information to a woman who filed a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a priest. The information sought related to whether the victim initiated the lawsuit within the state’s deadline to file such claims. The woman, suing as “TM Doe,” claimed in the case that Monsignor Robie Robichaux sexually abused her when she was 16 years old at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in New Iberia. According to the victim, she sought counseling from the priest and, after the second visit, Robichaux took her into his bedroom, where he told her God wanted him to have intimacy and she was God’s gift to him.

Robichaux sexually abused the victim for the next two years. The child survivor reported the abuse to then-Bishop Harry Flynn in the early 1990s. Flynn agreed to pay for the victim’s therapy costs for up to five years if she would sign a document stating that the payment was not an admission of the Church’s guilt. The woman refused to do so. A church vicar later told her she needed to get over what happened to her.

The victim again reported the abuse about ten years later after the Church implemented a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse by priests. Rather than disciplining Robichaux, the Church transferred him and then later promoted him. When the victim reported the abuse for the third time, church officials told her they lost her file. However, the Diocesan Review Board investigated and found the allegations credible and finally removed Robichaux in 2018.

In response to the victim’s civil lawsuit, the Church argued that the court should bar the victim from bringing her claim because many years had passed since the abuse.

As recently as June 2021, the Diocese placed a deacon on leave following allegations of child sex abuse that occurred decades ago. Newly ordained as a deacon, Shawn Jude Gautreaux gained assignment to St. Bernard Catholic Church in Breaux Bridge. The Diocese reported the allegations to law enforcement.

Due to varied responses when reporting instances of child sexual abuse happening within the Church and the fear, shame, and confusion that follows the invasive harm, many victims wait years to speak up about the abuse. New Orleans Representative Jason Hughes pointed to research showing that the average age of disclosure of child sex abuse is 52.

Hughes sponsored House Bill 492, passed by the Louisiana Legislature in June 2021, which sets aside the statute of limitations for ongoing civil claims of child sexual abuse and provides a look-back window for survivors who previously lost their chance to seek compensation for their injuries and suffering. The window commences on August 1, 2021, and continues for three years, during which time child sex abuse survivors of any age can file for civil damages, regardless of how long ago the abuse happened.

Don’t forgo any more time. If you or someone you love suffered harm at the Diocese of Lafayette, contact the sexual abuse lawyers at Herman Law today for a free consultation. We want to help you seek the justice you deserve.