The Archdiocese of New Orleans says there isn’t enough evidence to add two particular priests to its list of those credibly accused of Catholic church sex abuse despite the claims of at least two alleged victims, NOLA.com is reporting.

In a story published Oct. 5, the local news agency reported that Archbishop Gregory Aymond said there is not enough evidence to put the retired priest Luis Fernandez and the late Robert Cooper on the Archdiocese list of credibly accused priests. Both have been accused by two men of abusing them decades ago at St. John Vianney Prep, a school for boys interested in becoming clergy.

The school has since closed, Cooper is dead, and Fernandez is retired and living in Miami, NOLA.com reported. Fernandez, reached by telephone, purportedly told the NOLA.com reporter that the allegations in question were “taken care of by the archdiocese,” though he did not deny the accusations during the interview.

One of his accusers told NOLA.com he reported the sex abuse to the archdiocese in 2007, telling officials there he had been molested while attending St. John Vianney. “The church offered to cover psychiatric therapy for as long as [the alleged victim] needed it, even if it was for the rest of his life,” the new agency’s report said. The victim said it was hard to believe the archdiocese would do that if they didn’t find his accusations credible.

Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Position

For now, the archdiocese has said it cannot add Fernandez to the list on the basis of the first alleged victim’s claims, but a second man has come forward this year, the news agency reported. “The archdiocese said an investigation into the additional claim may yet result in his addition,” to the credibly accused list, the NOLA.com story said.

As for the other, while Aymond himself told NOLA.com he has first-hand knowledge of inappropriate letters Cooper once sent to some St. John students, the archdiocese reportedly doesn’t have them. Only one former student has made allegations against Cooper.

History of Archdiocese of New Orleans List

The claims are only the latest made against priests, clergy and affiliated laypersons in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Two years ago, the archdiocese began an investigation of its records and composed a list of 57 members of the clergy who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse against children over the years. The list was released to the public under Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s direction. In the time since, four more priests were added to the list – including one in August – bringing the total number of credibly accused clergy to 63.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press conducted its own investigation and said it found an additional 20 members of the clergy “who had been accused in lawsuits or charged by law enforcement with child sexual abuse” – including two who were charged and convicted – who were not on the list.

Case Shows List is Limited

A recently filed civil lawsuit involving child sex abuse allegations against two “religious brothers” who were not ordained priests, but still affiliated with the archdiocese, again called in to question the reliability of the list. The men, the former principal and an assistant at De La Salle High School in New Orleans, were also charged with crimes related to child molestation in connection with their work at St. Paul’s School in Covington in the 1990s. In those cases, they pleaded no contest and were sentenced, but because they were not priests, they were not included on the Archdiocese list of credibly accused sex offenders.

Status of Archdiocese of New Orleans Cases in Limbo

The Archdiocese of New Orleans filed for bankruptcy in May, effectively putting the civil cases against it on hold indefinitely. The move also stalls any out-of-court settlements or private negotiations over sex abuse claims in a state of limbo while the archdiocese goes through a financial reorganization.

Last month, the judge presiding over the bankruptcy proceedings set a deadline for any alleged victims who intend to sue the archdiocese over sex abuse claims to do so by March 1, 2021.

Local NBC news affiliate WDSU reported that “lawyers for abuse victims say the archdiocese has claimed insolvency to protect its assets from any future court judgments.”

The New Orleans chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, filed a motion in court July 3 trying to get the archdiocese’s bankruptcy petition thrown out on the grounds of “bad faith.” The group doesn’t believe the church’s financial position is as bad as the archdiocese says it is.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.