AMITE (LA)
Denton Record-Chronicle
08:12 PM CDT on Friday, June 24, 2005
Associated Press
AMITE, La. – A minister and six of his followers, including a former sheriff's deputy, were charged Thursday with aggravated rape in a case that has included accusations that children and animals were sexually abused.
A grand jury indicted Louis Lamonica, 45, who was the pastor of Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula, on six counts of rape.
Four counts each were brought against former Tangipahoa Parish sheriff's deputy Christopher Blair Labat, 24; Allen R. Pierson, 46, who lived in an apartment on the church complex; church member Paul Fontenot; and Austin Bernard, 36, whose wife, Nicole, first exposed the allegations.
Mr. Pierson's wife, Patricia, 54, and Mr. Lamonica's wife, Robbin, were charged on two counts each.
Authorities have said witnesses described the use of robes, pentagrams on the church floor, sex with a dog and the sacrifice of cats. The alleged victims, suspected to number up to two dozen, range from infants to young teens.