CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Lafayette church official accused of sexual abuse faces new allegation from second victim

The Advocate - 10/16/2018

Oct. 16--A second woman has stepped forward with a sexual abuse allegation against a Catholic priest placed on leave this month following a previous similar complaint that had a "semblance of truth" to it, the Diocese of Lafayette said Monday.

The new allegation against Monsignor Robie Robichaux accuses him of "inappropriate sexual contact."

The sexual contact occurred sometime between 1975 and 1985, and the accuser is not sure whether she was an adult at the time it occurred, according to the statement. The statement does not say how many times the sexual contact occurred, nor provide any description of the contact. There is no mention of any disciplinary action resulting from the latest allegation.

A diocesan spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions.

Bishop Douglas Deshotel disclosed Oct. 8 that a different woman had repeatedly told the diocese that Robichaux assaulted her between 1979 and 1981, when she was 16 or 17 years old. Deshotel said he first became aware of that allegation on Sept. 18, and that Robichaux was placed on leave after the church's Sexual Abuse Review Board determined there was "semblance of truth" to it.

The first victim initially informed the diocese of her allegation against Robichaux in 1994, and in 2004 requested in a notarized statement that he be removed. It's not clear why he was not removed, or if he was ever disciplined before being placed on leave.

Deshotel did not take questions after announcing the first allegation in a news conference, and the diocese has not responded to questions about the case.

Robichaux heads the diocesan marriage tribunal, which functions like a church court. He is also listed on a diocese website as the chancellor on the website of Sts. Leo and Seton Catholic School in Lafayette.

The multiple allegations against Robichaux are among several involving Lafayette church officials that have surfaced in recent weeks.

Michael Guidry, a former priest at St. Peter Church in St. Landry Parish, confessed in June to abusing a 16-year-old boy three years ago.

A Pennsylvania grand jury report in August highlighted an accusation against former priest John Bostwick, who was transferred to the Lafayette Diocese in 1992 after refusing church-ordered counseling. Bostwick worked in several local churches until 1996, when he was removed from Lafayette to face an allegation in Virginia.

The diocese is also facing a pending lawsuit involving allegations against the late Kenneth Morvant, a former pastor of St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville. The lawsuit accuses Morvant of repeatedly abusing boys in the 1970s.

Deshotel has repeatedly called on victims to come forward. At the same time, he has refused to release a list of 15 priests who were accused of sexually abusing children in the 1980s. The diocese acknowledged in 2004 that 123 accusers had received a total of $24.4 million in legal settlements related to those allegations.

In recent weeks, Pennsylvania bishops have released the names of priests with credible sexual abuse accusations against them, and the Archdiocese of Washington made a similar disclosure Monday.

___

(c)2018 The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.

Visit The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La. at www.theadvocate.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.