Father Stanley Begnaud

Diocese of Lafayette

Ordained: 1958

Retired: 1982

Died: 2019

Assigned as follows:

St. Peter the Apostle (Gueydan, LA)
St. Joseph Catholic Church (Rayne, LA)
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (New Iberia, LA)
St. Stephen Catholic Church (Berwick, LA)
Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church (Lafayette, LA)
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church (Opelousas, LA)
St. Margaret of Scotland (Lake Charles, LA)
St. Edward, Richard, and St. Thomas (Savoy, LA)
Sts. Peter and Paul (Scott, LA)
St. Leo IV (Rayne, LA)
Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (Lafayette, LA)

Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Fr. Stanley Begnaud:

Fr. Stanley Begnaud was ordained a priest in 1958, and served in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Lafayette. According to media reports, he was identified as a known pedophile in an affidavit by Rev. Thomas Doyle, former canonist at the Vatican Embassy who worked closely with Diocese of Lafayette sexual abuse cases. This affidavit and other diocese documents were part of a lawsuit that the Diocese of Lafayette filed against its insurance carriers.

In September 2020, a lawsuit was filed by a man who claims that he was molested by Fr. Begnaud when he was a teenage parishioner at St. Stephen’s Church in Berwick in the 1960’s. The alleged abuse began in the church confessional and continued during a car ride. The alleged victim jumped out a Begnaud’s moving car to escape. The suit also alleges that the Diocese of Lafayette know that Fr. Begnaud was a “diseased pedophile” and that they failed to remove him from the ministry.

Fr. Stanley Begnaud was publicly named in April of 2019 on the Diocese of Lafayette’s disclosure list of “diocesan clergy against whom credible allegations have been made regarding sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult.”

Fr. Begnaud died in 2019.

Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Louisiana, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Lafayette may now have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so do not delay in reaching out to us. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Louisiana and nationwide. We can help.

Father Stanley Begnaud – Diocese of Lafayette