4 former St. Mary priests on Lafayette Diocese list of abuse allegations

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Catholic diocese where the first widely reported case of clergy sex abuse became public in the 1980s is releasing a list of clergy who face credible accusations of sexual abuse.

Bishop Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette released the list Friday. The names of 33 priests and four deacons are on the list.

The priests who served at churches in St. Mary Parish are on the list. They are:

-- Herbert deLaunay, who served at St. Bernadette in Bayou Vista as well as at churches in Kaplan, Ville Platte, Church Point, Lyons Point, Mamou, Plaisance, Carencro and New Iberia and at American Legion Hospital in Crowley.

DeLaunay, born in 1948, was ordained in 1975 and removed from the priesthood in 1999.

--Ronald Lane Fontenot, who served at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Baldwin and at churches in Gueydan, New Iberia, Opelousas and Lafayette. Fontenot was born in 1946 and ordained in 1975. The diocese's list says that he resigned and was removed in 1984. He died in 2014.

--Michael Guidry, who served at St. Joseph in Patterson, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Baldwin, and St. Jules and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in Franklin. He also served at churches in Lafayette Parish, New Iberia, Petit Mamou, Church Point, Estherwood and Krotz Springs. He was born in 1943 and ordained in 1971. He was removed from the priesthood in 2018 and convicted earlier this year

--Stanley Begnaud, who served at St. Stephen in Berwick and at churches Acadia, Iberia, Vermilon, Calcasieu, Lafayette and St. Landry Parishes. He was born in 1921 and ordained in 1958. He retired in 1982 and died in 1985.

There are no indications on the list that any of the allegations resulted from incidents in St. Mary Parish.

Other Louisiana dioceses have reported about 150 priests, deacons and other clerics. There may be some overlap, since the Lake Charles diocese was carved out of the Lafayette diocese in 1980.

The Lafayette Diocese employed the first widely known abuser, Gilbert Gauthe. He pleaded guilty in 1985 to abusing 11 boys and testified that he'd abused dozens while serving at four churches in the diocese.