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	Ex-pastor Loses Appeal in Ponchatoula Sex Abuse Case Daily World August 2, 2010 http://www.dailyworld.com/article/20100802/NEWS01/8020301 A former pastor sentenced to life in prison for his role in a sex abuse scandal at a defunct Ponchatoula church has lost his bid for a new trial. The state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal upheld four aggravated rape convictions returned in 2008 against Louis Lamonica, who had been pastor at the Hosanna Church, The Advocate newspaper reported. In a decision released Thursday, the court rejected Lamonica's lone argument that his expert witness should have been allowed to testify at trial about false confessions and the influence of high-control groups or cults. Lamonica was found guilty of abusing two male relatives when they were ages 11 or younger and given four concurrent life sentences. Defense attorneys contend he confessed to authorities and in writing because a so-called prophet at the Hosanna Church controlled him. The relatives, who were 18 and 22 at the time of the trial, testified they lied when they told authorities of the abuse in 2005. Last year, the 1st Circuit affirmed the convictions and life sentences of Austin "Trey" Bernard III, who was the youth pastor at Hosanna. Bernard was accused of abusing a 2-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. He was convicted in 2007 on three counts of aggravated rape and given three consecutive life terms. Bernard testified the children were coached to lie about the abuse by his now ex-wife and other women at the church.
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