LOUISIANA
Louisiana Record

Chris Galford
Jan. 18, 2016

BATON ROUGE — One case has given rise to another, as the Rev. Jeff Bayhi filed a defamation and false light suit against Baton Rouge’s WBRZ-TV on Nov. 20, alleging the station misrepresented allegations in another case involving the Catholic priest as facts.

The case in question pertained to Rebecca Mayeux, who claims that at the age of 14 she was sexually abused by a now-deceased parishioner in Bayhi’s church, Our Lady of the Assumption in Clinton. In that case, she alleges Bayhi neglected his duty to Louisiana law by failing to report the alleged abuse. At the heart of the case is the notion that she made these initial claims in confessional. The question is whether the confidentiality of confessional overrides the obligation to report abuse.

“Should Father Bayhi violate that sacred seal in any way, his faculties as…