LOUISIANA
KATC
The Diocese of Lafayette is considering a review of an investigation they did decades ago on abuse allegations by a current priest.
Father Gilbert Dutel was named in a deposition from 1992, that was recently uncovered by a Minnesota Public Radio investigation. The Lafayette Diocese told KATC they investigated the claims at the time and the allegations were never proven.
However, today, Bishop Michael Jarrell tells KATC he may submit the matter to the Diocesan Abuse Review Board. Dutel’s name was not listed in any lawsuit or criminal filings as a defendant.
KATC did find new details on just how much the diocese has paid out and how many allegations were made.
About 50 families were paid about $23.5 million in settlements from 1983 to 1991 after they were apparently abused by priests employed by the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, according to court documents.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.