LAFAYETTE (LA)
KLFY-TV, CBS 10 [Lafayette LA]
June 12, 2026
By Renee Allen
Crowley LA – A Catholic priest in Acadia Parish charged with child sex abuse will have his trial overseen by a new judge, necessitating a rescheduling of proceedings.
District Court Judge David Smith recently agreed to recuse himself from the case, in which the Rev. Korey Lavergne faces three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.
Lavergne was arrested Jan. 17, and pleaded not guilty to all charges March 20.
The recusal of Smith came during a pre-trial hearing, following a joint motion presented by both the State and the defense. The case will now be transferred to Judge Scott Privat.
According to a court clerk, the next step for the case is a joint reset proceeding. The clerk confirmed that Privat will officially take over the case during the status proceeding.
The pre-trial hearing for Lavergne has yet to be rescheduled.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.