LAFAYETTE (LA)
Lafayette Daily Advertiser
April 30, 2019
By Ashley White
A former St. Landry Parish priest was sentenced to seven years of hard labor and three years of probation for sexually assaulting a teen boy.
Michael Guidry, 76, pleaded guilty to molesting a juvenile in March. He faced a maximum of 10 years.
Guidry was the longtime former leader of St. Peter Church in Morrow. Authorities said they opened the investigation after the victim reported he’d been given alcohol before being sexually molested by Guidry at the priest’s home.
The report was made last year, but the abuse happened several years ago when the victim was 16. He’s now 20.
Guidry confessed that he provided the victim with alcohol and admitted to the sexual assault, authorities said.
The Diocese of Lafayette placed him on leave and previously said it has not paid for Guidry’s legal expenses.
Letitia and Scott Peyton, the parents of the abused teen, also are pursuing a civil suit against Guidry and the diocese, seeking damages for pain and suffering. The suit alleges that although the diocese has paid for counseling since the allegations came to light, a senior church official threatened to halt the payments if the family sued.
Earlier this month, the Diocese of Lafayette released a list of 33 priests and four deacons credibly accused of sexual abuse. Guidry was on that list. The diocese did not offer information on what they were accused of or when the accusations
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.