LOUISIANA
The Advertiser
Claire Taylor, cxtaylor@gannett.com April 15, 2015
A New Jersey man filed a police complaint last week alleging he was abused by a priest in Youngsville in the 1960s.
Roy Lee Touchet, who also goes by Lee Paul Toucheque, 65, told The Daily Advertiser that he filed a complaint last week with the Youngsville Police Department alleging he was abused as a child by then-the Rev. Gerard Smit.
Youngsville Police Chief Rickey Boudreaux confirmed Wednesday that Touchet filed a complaint with his department, which is in the early stages of investigating the allegations.
Touchet, who lived in Youngsville, which was in the Diocese of Lake Charles until 1980, said he was an altar boy in the 1960s when Smit was assigned to churches in Youngsville and Milton. Touchet claims he was sexually abused by Smit at that time.
In 2006, Smit was identified in a settlement agreement between the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, and clergy sexual abuse survivors as one of several priests with admitted, corroborated or substantiated allegations of abuse of minors.
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