RSS Feed

A 35-year-old man was charged with battery of a dating partner in Bayou Vista after placing his arm around the victim’s neck, St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith said in a news release.

—Mark Hilliard, 35, of Illinois Avenue in Kenner, was arrested at 9:34 p.m. Thursday on a charge of battery of a dating partner.

A deputy was dispatched to a business in Bayou Vista in reference to a disturbance in progress. Upon arrival, the deputy made contact with a victim who stated that Hilliard had taken the victim’s vehicle.

When the victim spoke to Hilliard at the business to get the vehicle back, he had placed his arm around the victim’s neck in order to get the victim outside, the sheriff said. The deputy made contact with a witness who corroborated the victim’s story, Smith said. The deputy also made contact with Hilliard and transported him to parish jail. No bail was set.

Smith reported that deputies responded to 42 complaints in the parish and reported the following arrests in east St. Mary Parish:

—A juvenile male, 14, of Patterson, was arrested at 2:25 p.m. Thursday on a charge of ungovernable juvenile.

A deputy was dispatched to a location on Main Street in Patterson in reference to a disturbance involving a juvenile. Upon arrival, the deputies made contact with the juvenile and took him into custody. The juvenile was transported to the branch office for processing. He was released into the custody of a guardian pending juvenile court proceedings.

—Terry Dubois, 58, of Bowen Lane in Bayou Vista, was arrested at 9:34 p.m. Thursday on a warrant for failure to appear on charges of operating a vehicle not covered by security, vehicle license required and failure to apply for a certificate of title.

A deputy was dispatched to a business in Bayou Vista in reference to a disturbance in progress. While investigating the disturbance, the deputy made contact with Dubois and was advised by dispatch of an active warrant for his arrest. Dubois was booked into jail and then released on $500 bail.

—Sadie Percle, 26, of River Road in Berwick, was arrested at 7:39 p.m. Thursday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine and on a warrant for failure to appear on a charge of possession of marijuana.

—Steve Berryhill, 48, of River Road in Berwick, was arrested at 7:39 p.m. Thursday on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Detectives with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Section were patrolling the area of the Berwick boat landing when they observed a vehicle with two subjects inside the back seat. The detectives made contact with the subjects, identified as Percle and Berryhill, and through the investigation, the detectives learned of an active warrant for Percle. Drugs were also found in the vehicle, Smith said. Percle and Berryhill were jailed with no bail set.

Morgan City Police Chief James Blair reported that officers responded to 42 calls and reported no arrests:

—Rebecca Martin, 46, of Fifth Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 2:45 p.m. Thursday on a warrant charging her with failure to pay fines. Martin was arrested at her home on Fifth Street on a city court warrant. Martin was jailed.

—Erik S. Driskill, 43, of Second Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 12:20 a.m. Friday on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

—Eleanor C. Simoneaux, 36, of Jones Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 12:20 a.m. Friday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

Driskill and Simoneaux were passengers in a vehicle involved in a traffic stop on La. 182. Driskill was in possession of drug paraphernalia, and Simoneaux was in possession of suspected methamphetamine, Blair said. Both subjects were jailed.

—Cyrilla L. Fry, 53, of Sixth Street in Morgan City, was arrested at 12:27 a.m. Friday on charges of disturbing the peace intoxicated and simple burglary.

Officers responded to a business on Brashear Avenue in regard to a removal of an individual. Officers arrived and spoke to employees, who identified Fry as the suspect causing the disturbance. Witnesses stated that Fry was pulling on car doors in the parking lot of the business.

Police located Fry in the parking lot, and she appeared intoxicated, Blair said. Fry was jailed.

Berwick Police Chief David Leonard reported no arrests.

Patterson Police Chief Garrett Grogan reported no arrests.

The Tri-City area learned last week that seven former priests who served in Morgan City or Amelia had been the targets of sexual misconduct allegations. More revelations may be ahead for priests who served on the west side of the Atchafalaya River.
Friday’s release of names, all of former priests who have faced criminal or civil action or are targets of charges deemed credible, came from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, which extends as far west as Morgan City. St. Mary Parish west of the Atchafalaya is part of the Diocese of Lafayette, which has yet to release a complete list of priests accused or convicted of sexual misconduct.
But the diocese is committed to releasing a list, according to the frequently asked questions posted on its website.
“After prayer and discussion, Bishop (Douglas) Deshotel, along with bishops of other dioceses in Louisiana, have decided that the positive reasons outweigh the negative ones, and so he has committed to releasing a list of priests and deacons removed from ministry because of sexual abuse of a minor.
“The compilation of the list will seek to be done in a way that is as complete and as accurate as possible. …”
A search of media accounts, court records, victim advocacy websites and other sources led to the names of four clergymen accused of sexual misconduct and who served in Lafayette Diocese assignments in St. Mary as far back as the 1950s and as recently as 1998. None of the publicly released allegations involve crimes believed to have been committed in St. Mary.
The former priests who served in St. Mary are:
—Michael Guidry, who served at St. Joseph Church in Patterson in the early to mid-1990s. In 2018, Guidry was accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy years before. At the time of the allegation, Guidry was pastor of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Morrow. Media reports say he turned himself in in June and was the defendant in a lawsuit filed in August.
—John Bostwick, who served at the Church of the Assumption in Franklin in the mid-1990s.
Bostwick was ordained in the Baltimore Archdiocese and was assigned to the Lafayette Diocese in the early 1990s.
Bostwick was at St. Mary’s College in Maryland in 1996, near the end of his time in Louisiana, when he was accused of abusing a Pennsylvania boy in the early 1980s. Bostwick’s name has appeared on lists released by church officials in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore.
—Lane Fontenot, who served in the late 1970s at Sacred Heart in Baldwin. First accused of abuse in the 1970s, Fontenot was the target of a 1983 lawsuit in Louisiana. After a transfer to Spokane as a substance abuse counselor, he was accused of abusing three people there and convicted in 1986. He received a one-year jail sentence and was named in at least seven lawsuits in Washington.
—John Anthony Mary Engbers, who served at St. Joan of Arc in Glencoe in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Engers was accused of molesting at least seven girls in the mid-1950s and went to Holland after he was removed from his post and he was sued in 1985.
The Lafayette Diocese’s victim assistance coordinator is Joseph Pisano Jr. His number is 337-298-2987.
The Houma-Thibodaux Diocese directed people with concerns about misconduct to call the diocese’s Outreach Line at 985-873-0026.
In a Christmas speech to Vatican officials and employees, Pope Francis said the church had handled sexual abuse allegations badly and urged abusers to turn themselves in.
“Convert and hand yourself over to human justice, and prepare for divine justice,” the pope said.
The Lafayette Diocese has been the target of media pressure in the last year to release a list of priests accused of sexual misconduct.
Much of the early attention drawn by the priest sex abuse scandal focused on the Lafayette area. The Rev. Gilbert Gauthe was the target of misconduct allegations at St. Cecelia in Broussard in the 1970s before he was reassigned to small parishes in Vermilion Parish.
Gauthe’s case revealed a pattern that would be part of accusations elsewhere in the country and around the world: Priests accused of sex crimes would be reassigned, sometimes for treatment, and then sent to parishes without warning the new parishioners of earlier misconduct.
In Vermilion, Gauthe was convicted of 39 sex crime counts, including one involving a boy whose family refused to accept a settlement offered by the church and sued in state court.
Gauthe was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served only 10 before his release under the “good time” laws in effect at the time.
By the mid-1990s, Gauthe had pleaded no contest to new allegations that he fondled a 3-year-old in Texas. He was given probation.
Gauthe was jailed in Lafayette on an old rape charge before authorities learned he’d been granted immunity. Court decisions blocked attempts to have his early release from prison revoked.

Saints fans who made a din fearful enough to force the Eagles into burned timeouts and false starts Sunday are rightfully getting their due for helping the team to the critical win, but with even more on the line this Sunday, what’s a hoarse Who Dat to do?
According to voice experts, the rules are pretty simple: Breathe deep — through the nose is best — before letting loose with an offense-rattling roar. And stay well hydrated — by drinking more water, not more beer.
Alcohol is a diuretic, vocal coach Kristin Samuelson of New York points out. That doesn’t mean fans can’t enjoy a cold one, but she and others advise alternating a beer with a water.
“The vocal cords are teeny tiny little ligaments that are mostly made of water,” according to St. Tammany Parish Hospital speech therapist Kathy Crain. When they’ve been repeatedly slammed together, they don’t want to touch each other. “They’re angry and overused,” she said.
That inflammation results in hoarseness, which Crain said normally subsides in a day or two — plenty of time for Saints fans to be ready to disrupt the Rams.
Fortunately, the same techniques that make yelling easier on the voice also produce more sound, according to vocal coaches.
Margaret Albert, a Slidell resident who has taught voice for more than 20 years, advises breathing in through the nose to access air from deep within the lungs.
Singers and actors who have vocal training are able to get that deep air with mouth breathing, she said. But an average football fan yelling in a stadium will have more success in getting enough air into their cheering by breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Albert also advises using the “H” sound as a way to boost the flow. “You can put an H before a consonant — no one’s going to know but you. HMOVE DEM CHAINS. Or, if you want to be especially kind to your voice, HMOVE HDEM HCHAINS,” she said.
“It’s only gonna sound weird to you.”
The “H” sound encourages what Albert called “aspirate articulation” as opposed to “glottal articulation,” which can be harmful.
Fortunately for Saints fans, the cheer of choice already provides the optimum sound. Samuelson, who formerly lived in New Orleans and is still a big Saints fan, loves a good “Hooooo Dat.” But she’s also partial to “Go, go,” because of the oh and ooh sounds.
People think they need to squeeze to make the sound come out, to provide what they perceive as a loud, harsh sound, she said. But Samuelson suggests picturing the back of the mouth as a cathedral or big church or imagining an umbrella popping out of the back of their head to produce a round, full sound.
Or think about a burp, which is letting a big air bubble out. “Belch it out,” she said, but keep open and relaxed, which is better for the whole vocal mechanism.

Morgan City Rotary Club