Joseph Pellettieri
Alleged Abuse: Accused of sex abuse while working at a Crowley High School in the 1960’s but too much time passed and the lawsuit was dismissed. No criminal charges were filed.
Where is he now: Deceased
Joseph Pellettieri was on the New Orleans Diocese’s list of priests removed from ministry due to allegations of abuse.
In 2003, a man whose father worked with Pellettieri at Notre Dame Catholic High School in Crowley filed suit, claiming Pellettieri had molested him in the 1960s. When the suit was filed, Pellettieri was suspended by the New Orleans Diocese, where he was working at the time.
The lawsuit was dismissed, because too much time had elapsed, the Advocate reported.
However, the newspaper reported that the court didn’t have anything good to say about the church in his ruling:
“I’m going to note that … from all the information available, (the) defendants know something transpired between Father Pelletieri and (the victim) that was not right … But they (Catholic Church officials) have vigorously and at some times viciously fought this litigation throughout, and I think the very least that the defendants can do is to bear their own costs,” the judge wrote.
Pellettieri died in 2018.
Timeline:
1965: Ordained
1971-1972: Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church & Notre Dame High, Crowley
1980-1981: Holy Redeemer College, Waterford, Wisconsin
1982-1989: Baton Rouge, LA
1991: Maryhill Renewal Center, Pineville, LA
1993-2000: St. John the Baptist Church, Deville, LA
2002: Ave Maria Retreat House, Crown Point, LA
2002: The Redemptorist Education and Formation Foundation, Baton Rouge, LA
2003: Victim files a lawsuit claiming sex abuse
2018: Deceased
