LAFAYETTE (LA)
KATC ABC3
June 7, 2018
By Lanie Lee Cook
Dozens of Roman Catholic dioceses around the U.S. have released the names of priests who sexually abused minors, but the Diocese of Lafayette has so far opted against the practice — and the bishop has declined to say whether he plans to do so in the future.
The recent announcement of a sexual-abuse investigation into St. Landry Parish priest Michael Guidry has reignited calls to the Diocese of Lafayette — including from survivors of such sexual abuse — to release the names of abusive priests from the area.
Past Bishop Michael Jarrell said in 2004 the diocese paid more than $26 million in settlements to 123 victims of sexual abuse by 15 diocesan priests. Some of those names have been released through now-unsealed records from the diocese’s lawsuit against its insurer — a case over how much the insurance company would pay for the claims. But the diocese has never disclosed the names on its own.
At a press conference last week announcing the Guidry investigation, Bishop Douglas Deshotel was asked whether he would commit to that release, but he wouldn’t say one way or another.
“I don’t know. I’d have to find out who’s dead, who’s on the list, who’s not a priest anymore…If I knew of someone who was, who had been credibly accused, should not be — will not be — serving as a priest in the diocese,” Deshotel said.
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