KATC awarded 2019 Suncoast Emmy Award

LAFAYETTE (LA)
KATC News

Dec. 14, 2019

KATC has been awarded a Suncoast Regional Emmy Award for their program focusing on the accusations of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Lafayette.

Congratulations to KATC’s Jim Hummel, Letitia Walker, David Hilbun, Angie Simoneaux, and Wynce Nolley on their work on “The List: Accusations of Abuse in the Diocese of Lafayette.”

You can read that story here.

In a half-hour special report, KATC-TV exposed a long-kept secret in the Diocese of Lafayette: The List of priests who faced credible accusations of sexual abuse involving children.

In the 1980s, the diocese was home to the first reported case of clergy sex abuse in the country. The scandal persisted in this devoutly Catholic region for decades and the diocese eventually acknowledged that 15 priests were credibly accused. Over the years abuse survivors called for the 15 names to be made public, yet the diocese refused. As recently as 2014 a former bishop said he saw “no purpose” in releasing the 15 names.

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