What happened to you in a Houma-Thibodaux parish was not okay.

Terrebonne. Lafourche. The east end of St. Mary, and Grand Isle at the bottom. Thirty-nine parishes, and a list the Diocese itself put out in January 2019 with 14 names on it. One of those men was convicted by a Houma jury and died in prison. If you were an altar server, a student at the parish school, a kid at CCD anywhere from Morgan City to Golden Meadow, and a priest did something you have never quite put down, then yes. This page is about you. It also has a date on it, June 14, 2027, and we'd rather you saw that now than at the bottom.

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6 questions. Your answers are private and go to one person.

This applies to you no matter what

It was thirty, forty years ago. Louisiana took the time limit off these claims in 2021, the Supreme Court upheld that on June 12, 2024, and the Legislature gave the old claims until June 14, 2027. If you were a kid at the time, the door is open. For now.
The priest is dead. So is Melancon, since November 5, 2018, at David Wade Correctional Center; Guidry since 2013, Schmaltz since 2010. That changes less than people expect. The claim was never really against them. It's against the Diocese, which is still there, still at 2779 Highway 311 in Schriever.
His name isn't on the Diocese's list. Fourteen names are, pulled from the Diocese's own files, and a list is a floor, not a ceiling. LeBlanc wasn't on anybody's list until a man sued in 2007.
You told somebody, years ago, and nothing came of it. In 1993 a man wrote the Church about Father LeBlanc and got a letter back saying he'd been to counseling and was fine. That letter is part of a case, not a mark against it.
You live in Houston now, or Baton Rouge, or Biloxi. Ida scattered half the lower bayou. It's a Louisiana claim wherever you live; it follows the parish, not your address.
You're a wife, a brother, a grown daughter asking for someone who can't. Reach out anyway. Plenty of people do.

The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux record: what is public, and when

None of this is ours. It's the Terrebonne Parish court, the Diocese's own list, the Times-Picayune, the Houma Times and the Courier, and every line links to where it came from. We don't add to it. One man below was convicted by a jury; a guilty plea is a plea; a name on the Diocese's list is that list's finding, not a conviction; a civil complaint is an allegation the Diocese has not admitted.

September 30, 1993

The Diocese's insurer paid $30,000 to settle a man's claim of sexual misconduct against Father Robert Melancon, dating to St. Genevieve in Thibodaux, where Melancon served from 1973 to 1985. The Diocese admitted no fault, told the Times-Picayune it had made no report to anyone because the man was by then an adult with his own lawyer, sent Melancon for a month of outpatient evaluation, and put him back in a parish. Times-Picayune, July 24, 1995.

June 28, 1995

Melancon turned himself in on a Terrebonne Parish warrant. Aggravated rape was the charge. A Houma detective told the court who had made it, a 17-year-old at Annunziata in Houma, where Melancon had been six years, and when it began: in the rectory, the boy about 6 or 7. The detective had also interviewed a Thibodaux man who described a years-long relationship with Melancon that began in childhood; that man would testify at the trial the next year, 34 by then, that Melancon recruited him as an altar boy at 13. The Diocese put Melancon on paid leave. Times-Picayune, July 24, 1995.

June 18 and August 12, 1996

June 18, and the jury in the 32nd Judicial District Court, Terrebonne Parish, came back guilty, aggravated rape of an altar boy at Annunziata in the late 1980s, which under Louisiana law left Judge Johnny Walker exactly one sentence to hand down, and on August 12 he handed it down. Life without parole. Trumped up, Melancon said. The Thibodaux man had testified too, and after the verdict the Diocese said it would go back and re-examine its 1993 decision to settle his complaint for $30,000. Times-Picayune, August 13, 1996.

January 2000

It started with a housekeeper, who found photographs in the rectory at Holy Cross in Morgan City. Father Patrick Kujawa, the associate pastor there, was arrested at a Pennsylvania hospital the Diocese had sent him to, and charged with 62 counts of possession of child pornography. Then the Diocese's spokesman said something worth reading twice: while Kujawa was at St. Francis de Sales in Houma, two sets of parents had complained that he asked their children inappropriate sexual questions in the confessional. It was not reported to police. 'It was taken care of,' he said. The Advocate, January 14, 2000.

October 2012

Jared Ribardi had sued in 2007 over Father Etienne LeBlanc; the Diocese settled with him this month. Holy Cross in Morgan City again, early 1990s, an altar boy somewhere between 9 and 14, according to his petition. How much? Not disclosed. LeBlanc was never charged, and the Diocese's written position was that it 'has not ever known of any alleged predatory behavior' by him. The Courier then printed a 1993 letter from Bishop Michael Jarrell to another man who had written about LeBlanc: Father Etienne had received psychiatric counseling on sabbatical in 1986-87 and returned to parish work in May 1987. Houma Today, November 18, 2012.

November 5, 2018

Melancon died at David Wade Correctional Center in Homer, 82 years old. The Houma Times, going back through the court file, reported that church officials 'were already aware of the priest's propensities for molesting young boys' before the 1995 arrest; that just before trial the Diocese had settled the altar boy's civil claim for $800,000; and that the grand jury had also indicted Melancon on four counts of lewd and lascivious conduct upon two other boys under 17, never tried because the state's time limit had run. The Times of Houma/Thibodaux, November 28, 2018.

January 11, 2019

The Diocese released its list of 14 clergy, in three groups. Six who admitted, were convicted or pleaded guilty: Melancon; Kujawa, who the Diocese says pleaded guilty to 15 child-pornography counts in 2000 and, after a 2004 arrest, served 8 years in federal prison; Dale Guidry, guilty plea to online solicitation of a minor; Carlos Melendez, guilty plea to misdemeanor battery of a minor; Alexander Francisco and Lawrence Cavell, who admitted inappropriate contact with, or soliciting, a minor. Three named in civil suits the Diocese found credible: LeBlanc, Gerald Prinz, Bernard Schmaltz. Five credibly accused outside court: Claude Boudreaux, Gerard Kinane, Ramon Luce, Dac Nguyen, Daniel Poche. Bishop Shelton Fabre apologized 'for the egregious sins that have taken place' and added, 'any attempt to cover up these sins is even more disturbing.' The Advocate, January 11, 2019, via BishopAccountability.

June 12, 2024

Bienvenu v. Defendant 1 (2023-CC-01194). On rehearing, the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed itself and let the 2021 law stand, the one that revived childhood sexual abuse claims that had already run out. In the court's words, the law 'applies retroactively to revive all causes of action related to sexual abuse of a minor that previously prescribed under any Louisiana prescriptive period.' The Legislature then put a date on those revived claims, June 14, 2027, in Act 481 of 2024. Louisiana Supreme Court, rehearing opinion.

We checked this on September 12, 2026, and the newest thing in it is from June 12, 2024. When something new gets filed or decided, it goes in here within 72 hours, with the link.

Who can be held responsible in a Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux lawsuit

Not the priest, or not only him. The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux is the corporation that ordained these men, assigned them, moved them from Thibodaux to Houma to Cut Off, kept their files and paid the settlements. The theory isn't complicated. Put an adult in charge of children and you have to watch him; when somebody tells you something, you have to act. In 1993 the Diocese paid $30,000 over Melancon and put him back in a parish; two years later a Houma altar boy came forward, and a jury believed him. Where the record shows what the Diocese knew, the case is against the institution, and the institution is the one still here.

And it is here, and it has not filed for bankruptcy, which in Louisiana is saying something. New Orleans went first. The Archdiocese filed Chapter 11 on May 1, 2020, and if you had a claim against it you had until March 1, 2021 to say so. Nobody after that. Its plan was confirmed December 8, 2025. Alexandria filed October 31, 2025; 37 suits were sitting on its petition the day it did. Houma-Thibodaux has done neither. No filing in the Eastern District, no reported wave of suits in the 32nd or 17th Judicial District. We check the docket monthly, and this page will say so the day that changes.

One more thing a lawyer will want early. Until 1977 these were New Orleans churches; Houma-Thibodaux was carved out of the Archdiocese that year. For anything before that, in these same churches, the responsible body may be New Orleans, and New Orleans is behind that closed deadline. It doesn't make the call pointless. It means the years matter, and a lawyer sorts them, not you.

Your deadline: the Louisiana statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims, and June 14, 2027

Louisiana changed this in 2021, and the change favors you, but it comes with a date. The law is La. R.S. 9:2800.9. Act 322 of 2021 took the time limit, what Louisiana calls prescription, off civil claims for sexual abuse of a minor, and reached back to revive claims that had already run out. That was fought all the way up. On March 22, 2024 the Louisiana Supreme Court struck the revival down; then it reheard the case, and on June 12, 2024, in Bienvenu v. Defendant 1, upheld it.

Here is the part that matters, and the reason for the second question on this page. In Act 481 of 2024 the Legislature gave the revived claims a deadline: anyone whose claim had been barred by prescription 'shall be permitted to file an action under R.S. 9:2800.9 on or before June 14, 2027.' If you were under 18 at the time and your years in a Houma-Thibodaux parish fall anywhere from 1977 into the 2000s, yours is almost certainly a revived claim, and that is your date. After it, the door closes again. So when someone tells you Louisiana has no time limit on these claims, read the rest of the sentence: for the old ones, it has June 14, 2027.

Two more things, plainly. If you were 18 or older at the time, you are on a different clock, La. Civil Code art. 3496.2, three years, and whether it still runs for you depends on facts only you know. We don't promise a route there; a lawyer looks at the dates. And the years before 1977? Those churches belonged then to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and New Orleans's claims deadline closed on March 1, 2021. Say the years on the call and a lawyer will tell you what that means, straight.

Your situation still qualifies even if

You never said it out loud. Not to your wife, your husband, a priest. Nobody.
You don't have a word for what it was. Half of you thinks it wouldn't even count.
You stayed in the Church. Went back to that parish. Had your own kids baptized there.
It was a brother, a lay teacher, a coach, a visiting priest. Four of the 14 on the Diocese's list weren't its own priests.
Your years were before 1977. That leg may run against New Orleans, whose deadline has passed, but a lawyer looks at where the years fall before anyone says no.
You left after Ida and live in Texas or Mississippi now. It is still a Louisiana claim.

Parishes and schools covered

Any parish, any parish school, any high school the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux runs or ran, in Terrebonne, Lafourche, the east end of St. Mary or Grand Isle, from 1977 on. Named in the record or on the Diocese's list so far: Annunziata, Houma · St. Genevieve, Thibodaux · Sacred Heart, Cut Off · Holy Cross, Morgan City · St. Francis de Sales, Houma · St. Hilary, Houma and Mathews · St. Bernadette, Houma · St. Joseph, Chauvin and Galliano · St. Gregory Barbarigo, Houma · St. Louis, Bayou Blue · St. Thomas Aquinas, Thibodaux · Holy Savior, Lockport · Thanh Gia, Amelia. Yours isn't there? That means nobody has said it yet, not that nothing happened. Answer the questions and say where.

Questions people are asking

How much does a sexual abuse lawyer cost?

Nothing, here. Every case is on contingency, meaning the lawyer is paid only out of what is recovered, and if nothing is recovered you owe nothing, not fees and not costs. The call is free and so is the review; there's no bill for any of it.

Can I sue the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux?

People have, and the Diocese paid. $800,000 to the altar boy in the Melancon case, before the 1996 trial ever started. Jared Ribardi sued in 2007, settled in 2012. Whether you can comes down to two things, mostly: were you under 18 at the time, and do your years fall after 1977, which is when the Diocese came into being. If both, yes, the revived-claim route is open, until June 14, 2027 and not after. That's what the questions above sort out.

Louisiana statute of limitations on child sexual abuse: is there one?

Not for a child's claim. Louisiana took it off in 2021 and the state Supreme Court, on June 12, 2024, let that stand. But don't stop reading there. If your claim had already run out before 2021, it was brought back with a date attached, June 14, 2027, under Act 481 of 2024, and for anyone who was a kid in these parishes in the 70s, 80s or 90s, that's the one that counts. Write it down. Adults at the time are on a three-year rule instead; a lawyer has to look at the facts before anybody says yes or no.

How much is a Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux settlement?

We won't put a number on this page, and be wary of anyone who does. The two public figures in this record are the $30,000 the Diocese's insurer paid in 1993 and the $800,000 settlement before the 1996 trial; the 2012 LeBlanc settlement was not disclosed. What it comes down to is what happened, what the Diocese knew and when it knew it. Once a lawyer has seen your facts, they can talk about that plainly, and until then nobody should.

Bankruptcy. Has the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux filed?

No. We look every month, and as of the last look there is nothing docketed in the Eastern District of Louisiana under the Diocese's name. New Orleans and Alexandria are another story, and the dates are up in the section on who can be held responsible. Should Houma-Thibodaux ever follow them, the first line of this page will say so.

Who sees your form

Kerim Eravci · Survivor Advocate · Not a lawyer

I was a victim, and I waited. Not because I didn't know what happened to me (I knew every day), but because I'd decided it was over, mine to carry, nobody's business. When I finally went looking for a lawyer, the answer came back in two words I'd never thought about: statute of limitations. My time had run out while I was busy getting through it.

What that has cost me since is a long story, and I'll tell you the whole thing in private, if you want it. The short version is the reason my name is on this page: I'm here to help people do what I wish I'd done, which is find out where you stand while the door's still open.

I'm not a lawyer. I read what you send, I call you once, on your terms, and nothing gets filed unless you say so. Ask sooner than I did.

Kerim Eravci is not an attorney. He's a survivor.

What happens next. Three steps, nothing more until you say so.

You answer 6 questions. Nothing is filed. Nothing starts.
A survivor calls you, once. Not a robot, not a call center. Someone who has been where you are.
You decide. You find out your options. If you want to stop there, you stop there.

How this works

ME2 Survivors Alliance protects the heart. Licensed Louisiana attorneys do the legal work. We are not lawyers and we don't pretend to be.

You never pay a dollar

Every case is on contingency. There is no charge for the call, the review, or the case. The firm is paid only out of a recovery, and if there is no recovery you owe nothing.