LOUISIANA
WAFB
[with video]
By Tyana Daquano
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) –
A decision made Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court could threaten the sanctity of confessions told to Catholic priests, so says the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge. They are involved in a sexual abuse case, filed by a Baton Rouge family.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to get involved in the case, the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge released a statement that said in part, that they are “disappointed the court denied our request … to intervene in this case, which has significant ramifications for religious freedom in Louisiana and beyond.”
The lawsuit, filed by the parents of a then 14-year-old girl, alleges their daughter was molested by an older parishioner, George Charlet, Jr., now deceased. Attorney’s say three times in confession, the girl told her priest, Father Jeff Bayhi, that Charlet touched her and made inappropriate comments.
“This is kissing and touching and fondling,” their attorney, Brian Abels said in July of last year. “The very last time our client thought she was going to be raped.”
Abels, says his client should be able to to tell what they say is an important part of her story in court.
He says because the priest did not report the alleged abuse, he and the church are liable.
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