Father Patrick Kujawa
Ordained: 1995
Removed: 2000
Incarcerated: 2000
Assignment History
- 1997: St. Francis de Sales (Houma, LA)
- 1999: Holy Cross Church (Morgan City, LA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Father Patrick Kujawa
In January 2019, the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux publicly named Fr. Patrick Kujawa on its list of priests who admitted to, or were convicted of, sexual misconduct with children. According to the list, Fr. Kujawa was arrested and charged in 2000 after child pornography was found in the rectory at his church.
2000 Trial and Conviction
According to reports, in 1999, Fr. Patrick Kujawa was a priest at Holy Cross in Morgan City when the housekeeper found 220 images of child pornography in the rectory. Kujawa was initially sent to a Pennsylvania hospital for treatment, but in 2000, Morgan City Police and the FBI began an investigation in which he was arrested and charged. Fr. Kujawa was booked with 62 counts of possession of child pornography and pleaded guilty to 15 of them. Kujawa was sentenced to four years on each count, to be served consecutively, for 60 years in prison. However, the judge suspended that sentence and instead placed him on probation.
In 2004, Kujawa was indicted in federal court on more charges of child pornography, after federal investigators found "hardcore child pornography" on his home computer. He again pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. When the state moved to revoke his probation and send him to prison for 60 years, he appealed, alleging that the court had illegally suspended the sentence in the first place. He asked for a new sentencing hearing, which the court granted. Kujawa was sentenced to 15 10-year sentences, to be served simultaneously, but after any federal sentence was complete. That brought his entire sentence to 20 years.
He is set for release in 2022 from Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson, LA.
The lawyers at Horowitz Law represent people who were sexually abused by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by clergy in Louisiana, contact our office today. Regardless of how long ago this happened, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux now have legal options because of a law eliminating the statute of limitations. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Louisiana and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or email adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.