Monsignor Louis LeBourgeois
Archdiocese of New Orleans
Ordained: 1961
Died: 2015
Assigned as follows:
- St. Charles Borromeo (Destrehan, LA)
- St. Matthew the Apostle (River Ridge, LA)
- St. Agnes (Jefferson, LA)
- St. Peter Church (Reserve, LA)
- St. Christopher the Martyr (Metairie, LA)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Monsignor Louis LeBourgeois:
Monsignor Louis LeBourgeois served in multiple parishes throughout his career. He was the state spiritual director of the Catholic Knights of America and served as chaplain of the Jefferson Parish Fire Department. In July 1988, he was awarded the Prelate of Honor, signaling his ascension to the position of monsignor. He retired in 1990.
According to media reports, in November 2018, a woman reported to law enforcement authorities that Monsignor LeBourgeois sexually abused her when she was four years old in 1968, while was assigned to St. Matthew the Apostle Church in River Ridge. The New Orleans District Attorney's Office and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office reportedly told her the statute of limitations had expired.
The woman, daughter of a famed linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, said Monsignor LeBourgeois picked her up at her preschool and sexually abused her in his car. She said she remembered him stopping at a stop sign and waving to someone working in a front yard garden. He eventually exposed himself and made her put her mouth on his penis.
"I'm God in man form. ... I'm only doing to you what other men will do to you in the future, only I'm doing it first," Monsignor LeBourgeois told her, as she cried.
Before she got out of the car when they finally arrived at her home, she said he told her, "If you tell anyone, God is going to send you to hell. If you tell your mother or father, they won't believe you."
In August 2014, the alleged victim told the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where she was then living, who referred the case to New Orleans. Monsignor LeBourgeois was confronted, but denied the abuse. Shortly after, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. He went into a coma and died three months later in July 2015, before the church Review Board had seen the case.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans paid for the woman's therapy, but did not include Monsignor LeBourgeois' name on its November 2018 list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors. In August 2019, she filed a civil suit.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The Archdiocese of New Orleans filed for federal bankruptcy protection in April 2020. Our lawyers are now offering free legal consultations to discuss your legal options as a survivor of sexual abuse by priests and other employees of the New Orleans Archdiocese.
Very strict filing deadlines will soon be set by the Bankruptcy Court. Most victims of abuse will never be able to recover damages if they miss this deadline, so please contact us to discuss your case today. Call us at 888-283-9922 or send an e-mail to adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com.