Civil lawsuit alleges child sexual abuse by former priest of the Diocese of Alexandria in the 1970s

ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana (CALF) – Court documents filed June 11 with the Rapides Parish Clerk of Court show that the Diocese of Alexandria faces a civil lawsuit seeking damages for injuries caused by a former priest in the 1970s.

The plaintiff alleged that they were sexually abused as minors by a priest of the Diocese of Alexandria, identified as Father Edmund Gagné.

Father Gagné was among those accused by the Diocese of Alexandria in 2019 of sexual misconduct and abuse of minors. According to BishopAccountability, Father Gagné was ordained a priest in 1971 and assigned to a church in Marksville for two months in 1974. He then transferred to Houston, Texas, and was dismissed from public ministry in 1986. Father Gagné reportedly died in 1990.

The plaintiff alleges that while serving as altar boys at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in 1971 and 1972, they were pressured and coerced into engaging in sexual acts with Father Gagné. The complaint states that the acts took place at locations in Alexandria, including a garage apartment, behind the rectory at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, and at the YMCA. They also allege that Father Gagné sexually abused them when they were minors.

Most disturbing, however, is the account of how the priest lured the plaintiff to Mexico in June 1972 under the pretense of a mission trip to “deliver clothing to the needy.” The civil suit alleges that the priest and the child shared a hotel room in Mexico. The suit goes on to say, “The events in that hotel room in Monterey, Mexico, were so traumatic that plaintiff, who was then a minor child, purchased his own airline ticket and flew home alone just to get away from Father Edmund Gagné.”

The civil suit argues that the Diocese of Alexandria is liable for damages because it “failed to exercise reasonable care in screening, training, supervising and retaining employees and failed to ensure that minors were not sexually harassed and abused by its agents and/or employees.”

The lawsuit further alleges: “Plaintiff’s sexual abuse had its primary and proximate cause in Father Edmund Gagné’s employment with Defendant and could not have occurred without the authority, freedom and trust that Defendant placed in Father Edmund Gagné.”

The lawsuit alleges that they repressed memories of the abuse in Mexico and “suffered severe harm and permanent, life-altering damage.”

As noted in the petition, there is no statute of limitations in this case because a number of Louisiana laws created a “look-back period” for sexual abuse of minors cases, allowing them to be brought in court without time limits.

That window was in jeopardy after one of his laws was declared unconstitutional by the Louisiana Supreme Court in March 2024, but the court reversed its decision on June 12.

Additionally, the state’s lookback window was scheduled to expire on June 14, 2024, but was extended due to Legislative Bill 481 of the 2024 session, filed as SB 246 by State Senator Jay Luneau of Pineville.

A trial date has not yet been set and the plaintiff has requested a jury trial. The plaintiff’s name has not been released at this time for privacy reasons.

KALB has reached out to the Diocese of Alexandria’s chancery office for comment but has not yet received a response.

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