LAFAYETTE (LA)
The Advocate [Baton Rouge LA]
June 28, 2024
By Claire Taylor
At least one new lawsuit has been filed against the Diocese of Lafayette seeking damages from alleged sexual abuse by a priest as the state Supreme Court ruled June 12 to give abuse survivors three additional years to file lawsuits no matter how long ago the abuse occurred.
A St. Martin Parish resident, referred to by the initials C.V. in court records, filed a lawsuit June 11, the eve of the Supreme Court decision, suing the Diocese of Lafayette.
The 5-2 opinion says the “lookback window” unanimously approved by the Louisiana Legislature giving abuse survivors a three-year window to sue for damages is constitutional.
The legislature in 2021 gave abuse victims three years to sue their abusers no matter when the abuse occurred. Before that, survivors had until age 28 to sue.
The first publicized case of priest sex abuse occurred in Lafayette in the 1980s, when former priest Gilbert Gauthe faced a criminal trial for the sexual abuse of children. He admitted to abusing more than two dozen children and accepted a plea deal that sent him to prison on a 20-year sentence. He was released after 10 years.
Dozens of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse at the hands of clergy in the Diocese of Lafayette, the Diocese of Lake Charles and elsewhere in the state have since been filed, some of them settled by the church.
Under pressure from the public, the Diocese of Lafayette released in April 2019 a list of 38 clergy accused of sexual abuse.
In the latest lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Lafayette in the 15th Judicial District Court in Lafayette, the victim alleges they suffered severe physical and psychological injuries and other ill effects, including post traumatic stress disorder and permanent brain injury due to the the disruption of their brain development.
The sex abuse lawsuit says the victim was abused by their catechism teacher, who was the pastor of St. Joseph Church in Broussard and St. Anthony Mission Church in Cade from 1978-79.
The priest is identified in the lawsuit only as Father F.A.D. The online history of St. Joseph’s Church says the Rev. Francis Alvin Dixon was pastor at that time. An online obituary says he died in 2001. A version of the lawsuit is on file with the court system that identifies the victim and priest, but it is sealed and unavailable to the public.
The Supreme Court decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed in St. Martin Parish by Douglas Bienvenu against the Diocese of Lafayette.