Charles Zaunbrecher
Alleged Abuse: Arrested in 1986, accused of exposing himself to officers in Lafayette while working as a priest in Milton. There are no records of the charge in the Lafayette Clerk’s Office; he is listed on the spreadsheet from the insurance lawsuit on settlements that were paid out, but no dollar amount or victim’s name is reflected.
Where is he now: Deceased
Monsignor Charles Zaunbrecher was vicar of the West Lafayette Deanery and a priest at St. Joseph Church in Milton when he was arrested in May 1986 and accused of exposing himself to police officers.
Zaunbrecher was formally charged with obscenity, the State Times reported at the time. He was accused of exposing himself to two police officers, one male and one female, “with the intent of arousing sexual desires or which appeals to prurient interest or is patently offensive.”
At the time, a spokesman for the Lafayette Diocese of the Catholic Church said Zaunbrecher was suspended from his duties immediately after church officials learned of the incident. He also said Zaunbrecher had been undergoing treatment since the incident and was going to turn himself in.
No further details were reported, and there is no record of the charge in the Lafayette Clerk’s office.
Zaunbrecher died 10 years later.
Timeline
1957: Ordained
1980: On Special Assignment with Diocese of Lafayette
1981-1984: St. Edward’s Church in Richard, LA
1985: Lafayette, LA
1986: Arrested in Lafayette on obscenity charges
1985-1995: Church of the Little Flower, Mobile, AL
1986: St. Joseph’s Church, Milton, LA
1987: Absent on sick leave
1988: On duty outside the diocese
1989: Diocese of Mobile
1990-1995: On duty outside the diocese
1995: Returns to Diocese of Lafayette
1996: Deceased
(These dates were obtained from the Catholic Directory publications we could locate; his obituary also mentions he had pastoral assignments in Abbeville, Eunice, Kaplan, Iota, Lyons Point, Milton, Richard, as well as served as pastor at St. Jules Catholic Church in Lafayette and St. Michael’s in Crowley.)
