LOUISIANA
American Press
Last Modified: Friday, February 05, 2016
Crystal Stevenson / American Press
A state district court jury will begin deliberations today in the case of former priest Mark Broussard, who is accused of sexually assaulting a then 8-year-old altar boy at St. Henry Catholic Church in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Broussard is charged with molestation of a juvenile, oral sexual battery, aggravated oral sexual battery and two counts of aggravated rape.
On Thursday, prosecutors called their last witness, a man who said Broussard sexually assaulted him in the LSU-Eunice student center in the summer of 1981 — a charge to which Broussard admitted in 1988.
The victim, who was 14 at the time, said his relationship with Broussard began when he was an altar boy at Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Church in Jennings. He said Broussard would frequently travel to Jennings to help with services at the church and that is where the two met.
“It was at first fun,” he said of their friendship. “With me and a couple other buddies, he took us on day trips to farms, check out the roosters, wrestle on the front lawn. He acted like he was one of us. He was in his late 20s. It was like he was a fun adult.”
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