LAFAYETTE (LA)
KLFY-TV, CBS 10 [Lafayette LA]
December 5, 2023
By Scott Yoshonis
The case of alleged sexual abuse against the Diocese of Lafayette and Saint Martin de Tours Catholic Church will be heard by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
The court announced it would take the case, and ordered the District Court and the Court of
Appeal to send up the records of the case, in a release Tuesday.2018: Victim speaks out over alleged sexual abuse at hands of former St. Martinville priest
“Please be advised that the above-captioned matter will be set for oral argument on this
Court’s next available docket,” the release read.
The specific date and time of oral argument has not yet been set, but the court set deadlines for the plaintiffs and the diocese to file their briefs by Jan. 2 and Jan. 24, respectively.
The lawsuit originally filed in 2018 alleges the Rev. Kenneth Morvant abused Doug Bienvenu and other altar boys by giving them alcohol and using the “Power of God” to prey upon them.
Bienvenu, the only plaintiff named in the suit, said he was nine years old when the alleged abuse started.
Morvant died in 2002 and is buried at St. Martin de Tours in St. Martinville.