A Quarter Century of Secrecy by Louisiana Bishops

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Adam Horowitz Law [Fort Lauderdale, FL]

December 17, 2024

Just how long have Louisiana Catholic officials known about or suspected child sex crimes by their clergy? In these cases, a quarter of a century. That’s right: next month, we’ll welcome a new year – 2025 – which marks the 25th year since Louisiana bishops, chancellors, vicars general, and other top church staffers were told about reports that these clerics had hurt kids. And in each case, Catholic officials kept those reports secret for years or even decades.

1. Fr. Carmelo Ignatius Camenzuli In May of 2000, Baton Rouge church staff received a report that he assaulted at least one child in the early 1980s. Not until 2019 did the Baton Rouge bishop put his name on a church ‘credibly accused’ abusers list. Read more on Fr. Camenzuli. 
2. Fr. Patrick R. Kujawa In 2000, he was arrested in January of 2000 and charged with 62 counts of downloading child pornography. He pleaded guilty and received a 10-year probated sentence. Just four years later, Fr. Kujawa was arrested again after more pornography was found at the Benedictine monastery where he was living. Then, he was given a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. Even then, Fr. Kujawa couldn’t stay out of trouble, and later that same year, he received an additional 10-year sentence for violating his original probation. Not until 2019 did the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese publicly admit he was a ‘credibly accused’ offender.
3. Br. Richard J. Langenstein It was actually MORE than 25 years ago that Louisiana church officials learned that this former Christian Brother was an alleged child sex offender. In 1997, when Langenstein was accused of abusing a 15-year-old boy who was then a student at Covington High School, where the cleric was a substitute teacher. In 1998, he was sued for these crimes. Two years later, in 2000, Langenstein pleaded ‘no contest’ to a charge of indecent behavior with a juvenile. He was given a suspended three-year sentence and probation for five years. Yet even now, in 2024, Catholic officials refuse to publicly admit that they had this proven predator on the job in several states. As best we at Horowitz Law can tell, he’s on NO church ‘credibly accused’ list. Langenstein was a former high school teacher, counselor, principal, and college vice president. In a 2020 lawsuit, he is also accused of molesting a De La Salle High School student for two years in the 1980s with Br. Robert Gandara, who also worked in Galveston, Texas.
4. Br. Claude L. Ory Here’s another case in which the Catholic hierarchy’s knowledge of an abuser dates back MORE than a quarter century ago. In 1994, this cleric was accused repeatedly of abuse and was then suspended from Jesuit High School in Dallas. At least one civil abuse and cover-up lawsuit against him has been settled. The following year, his supervisors sent him to Mobile, Alabama. In 2000, he was moved to Baltimore’s Loyola College campus, where he managed the Jesuits’ residence hall until 2007. In fact, as of 2018, Br. Ory was reportedly living at a Jesuit residence in Maryland. Not until 2018 did the Jesuits add him to their official public church ‘credibly accused’ abusers list. Though Br. Ory also worked at Jesuit High School in New Orleans in the 1970s, that archdiocese has apparently not – to this day – acknowledged that the abuse reports lodged against him have been substantiated. Thankfully, however, a committee of clergy sex abuse victims did put Br. Ory on its public ‘credibly accused’ list. Ory also worked in El Paso, Shreveport, and Atlanta.
5. Fr. David Primeaux As early as 1980, this cleric admitted in psychological evaluations to sexually abusing boys, beginning in 1980 when he was teaching at St. Benedict in Covington, Louisiana. In fact, that same year, diocesan officials settled a civil lawsuit charging that Fr. Primeaux molested at least one child. Not until 2019, however, did the Lafayette diocese publicly list him as ‘credibly accused.’ Fr. Primeaux has been accused of abusing at least 15 children over at least five years. He left the active priesthood in 1985, later married, and died by suicide in 2012. Fr. Primeaux also worked in Milton, Scott, Broussard, and Lafayette, all in Louisiana.
6. Fr. John C. Sax He’s the most high-ranking predator priest mentioned in this blog, having been the New Orleans Archdiocesan director of priest personnel for nearly a decade. Fr. Sax was also promoted to Msgr. Sax. In 2000, he was put on leave after an abuse allegation against him surfaced. Fr. Sax admitted that he molested an altar boy on numerous occasions for five years at St. Peter’s in Reserve, beginning when the boy was a ten-year-old. The following year, a lawsuit was filed(but it was not served until 2002.) In 2004, Msgr. Sax was removed from ministry. Not until 2018 did New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond place Fr. Sax on his official list of ‘credibly accused’ child molesting clerics.
7. Fr. Lawrence Hecker This cleric may be the most prolific molester in Louisiana. He has some competition for that awful distinction: Fr. Gilbert Gauthe of the Lafayette diocese. Just this week, a news outlet revealed that both of these priests molested the same boy. In 2000, Fr. Hecker was given the honorific title ‘monsignor,’ but that same year, the New Orleans Archdiocese was told of him abusing a youngster. But as far back as 1988, Fr. Hecker had been confronted in 1988 by then-Archbishop Philip Hannan about an allegation he had abused a boy. And in 1999, he confessed to his superiors that he had sexually abused seven teenagers. The priest made similar admissions when confronted last year by two journalists. He also was found to have sexually abused an adult man with a mental disability. When did any Catholic official finally announce that Fr. Hecker was a ‘credibly accused’ sex offender? Not until 2018. His name appears on the list of ‘credibly accused’ abusive clerics in both the New Orleans Archdiocese and the Baton Rouge Diocese. But he is NOT on such a list for the Houma Diocese, even though he worked there, too. Fr. Hecker also worked in these Louisiana towns: Terrytown, Luling, Houma, Metairie, and Gretna.

We’ll end on a positive note here: In just a few days, Fr. Hecker is scheduled to be sentenced. Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to several child sex charges. These cases all come from one state: Louisiana. But we strongly suspect that even a cursory online search would reveal the same pattern across the US. The bottom line: Unless and until they are forced to act by outside sources (usually police, prosecutors, victims, advocates, attorneys, or journalists), Catholic officials – even now – refuse to voluntarily admit and warn others about their proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics.