LOUISIANA
KATC
[with video]
District Attorney Mike Harson tells KATC without victims coming forward, he can’t prosecute old cases of alleged sexual-abuse by priests.
The priest sex-abuse scandal was brought back in the spotlight after a sweeping investigation by Minnesota Public Radio last month.
The Diocese of Lafayette has acknowledged “credible accusations” against 15 priests, but is refusing to release their names. “The Bishop sees no purpose in releasing their names,” wrote diocese spokesman, Monsignor Richard Greene.
Msgr. Greene adds that none of those 15 priests are still in the church here, or elsewhere. Of those 15 only one, Father Gilbert Gauthe, ever faced criminal charges in Lafayette.
“Put out the 15 names,” says Abbeville attorney Tony Fontana, who represented a number of priest sex-abuse victims and their families. “Start showing that you care more about protecting kids than you do about protecting the pervert priests.”
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