LAFAYETTE (LA)
KATC TV
January 15, 2019
By Jim Hummel
*This is part 2 of a special report on accusations of abuse in the Diocese of Lafayette.
he existence of a list of accused priests was first confirmed in 2004 by then-Bishop Michael Jarrell, as the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis gained national attention.
“We’re dealing with it in a forthright manner and admitting our faults and mistakes,” Jarrell said in a 2004 interview with KATC. “We’re striving to do all that we can in the future.”
Jarrell’s tenure began at a time when the church promised reform on clergy sex abuse, but under his leadership, there are questions if that promise was kept.
In uncovering our list, KATC found at least three cases in Jarrell’s time as bishop, where the diocese was aware of complaints against living priests; there is no record police were notified, until only recently in one of them.
Gerard Smit was accused of sexual abuse in Lafayette, Calcasieu and St. Landry parishes. Records obtained by KATC, including his personnel file with the diocese, show one of his accusers, Roy Touchet, complained at least three times.
“No one believed us, because the priests were almighty, the bishops were almighty, the cardinals knew about it,” Touchet said. “They just didn’t want to do anything. They just covered them up.”
Louisiana State Police only got involved in 2015, when Touchet filed a formal complaint.
Next, a lawsuit against Father Marshall Larriviere in 2003. Larriviere was accused of sexual abuse in the 1960’s at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville. The case was settled in 2004. There is no record law enforcement was notified.
Msgr. Robie Robichaux was placed on leave in October 2018, after two women came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers; the initial accuser went to the diocese in both 1994 and 2004. Despite her accusations, Robichaux was allowed to stay in ministry, work in schools, and was even promoted within the diocese to the post of judicial vicar.
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