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	Port Barre Priest Cleared of Theft Charges By Trevis R. Badeaux Daily Advertiser October 14, 2006 http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061014/NEWS01/610140337 Port Barre - Port Barre police announced Friday they will ask 27th Judicial District Attorney Earl Taylor on Monday to drop charges against a local Roman Catholic priest accused of 84 counts of felony theft. However, the department, Chief David Richard said, will continue to investigate allegations that church secretary Ramona Speyrer stole about $56,000 from Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church between July 2004 and July of this year. Speyrer, 50, of Arnaudville, was arrested on Oct. 3 and charged with 70 counts of felony theft. She was arrested again on Oct. 6 and charged with an additional 14 counts of felony theft. She was later released on bond. Speyrer implicated the Rev. Charles Nicholas Trahan, 58, in the theft in an interview following her initial arrest. Based on her accusations, the chief said, Port Barre police arrested Trahan on Oct. 6 and charged him with 84 counts of felony theft. Trahan, known by church members and coworkers as "Father Nicky," was appointed to serve as pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus on July 1, 2003. Investigators could find no further information to substantiate Speyrer's claims, Richard said, so department officials decided to drop the charges against the priest. "We initially had enough to secure a warrant and pursue the matter," he said. "Since, we have had no cooperation from the actual complainant or her attorneys, basically we were spinning our wheels." Monsignor Richard Greene, Lafayette Roman Catholic Diocese spokesman, said Bishop Michael Jarrell expects to take Trahan off administrative leave and restore him as pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church pending the decision of the district attorney. "It was the diocese that sought the protection of law enforcement as the victim of a theft," said Gil Dozier, an attorney representing the diocese. "It was the diocese that supplied the police with the documentation that revealed the underlying facts that led to the secretary's arrest. "The diocese has sought only for law enforcement to process all information and to adhere to the evidence," he said. "The diocese is pleased to be informed of the lack of any wrongdoing and would ask that Nicky Trahan be restored to his community and to his ministry at Sacred Heart and that his reputation be restored, as well."
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