Etienne Leblanc
Alleged Abuse: Abuse happened in the early 1990s while Leblanc was a pastor in Morgan City. A lawsuit was settled, but no charges filed by police.
Where is he now: A telephone listing for an Etienne Leblanc, who is the same age and who previously lived in Morgan City, shows him living in Port Orange, FL.
In 2007, a former altar boy filed a complaint with Morgan City Police and a lawsuit against the Houma Diocese and Father Etienne LeBlanc, known by most in Morgan City as “Father Steve,” alleging he was molested while serving as an altar boy in the early ’90s.
The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount of money. Police did not pursue charges.
The man alleged that he was 9 when LeBlanc began molesting him and claimed the abuse continued until he stopped serving as an altar boy when he was 14. The Diocese began to investigate, and LeBlanc was placed on leave from the Annunziata Catholic Church in Houma.
After that victim came forward, another victim spoke to the Houma Courier and Daily Comet newspapers, denying the church’s claims that they didn’t know about allegations. The second victim told the newspapers that he wrote the church in 1993 about the relationship he had with Leblanc when he was 17, while Leblanc was in Reserve, and received the following response from then Bishop Michael Jarrell:
“Father Etienne did receive psychiatric counseling while on sabbatical during the school year 1986-87,” Jarrell wrote. “Upon recommendation of his doctor, he was returned to parish work in May of 1987. For six years he has served successfully in his parish assignment. In that time there have been no complaints about his behavior. … I am satisfied that whatever problems he may have had have been faced and overcome. He is continuing to receive counseling on a regular basis. If he were a threat to anyone, I feel that there would have been complaints.”
We’re unable to find any record that LeBlanc is still a priest. A telephone listing for an Etienne Leblanc, who is the same age and who previously lived in Morgan City, shows him living in Port Orange, FL.
Timeline:
1970-1971 Deacon at St. Francis de Sales Parish New Orleans
1971-1975 Pastor at St. Peter’s Catholic Church Reserve
1975-1976 Our Lady of Prompt Succor Westwego
1980-1987 Pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Thibodaux
1986 Six month sabbatical
1987-2000 Holy Cross Catholic Church Morgan City
1999 Six month sabbatical
2001 Part-time associate at St. Hilary of Poitiers Mathews
2001-2004 Administrator/pastor Holy Family, St. Eloi Dulac, Dularge
2004-2007 Annunziata Catholic Church Houma
2007 Put on leave
