Jules Arceneaux
Alleged Abuse: Accused of possessing child pornography; all charges would be later dropped
Where is he now: “On Leave” according to the Catholic Directory
Jules Arceneaux was pastor of St. Francis Regis in Arnaudville when federal agents, acting on a tip, raided his rectory in July 2004 and found pornography on his computer.
Arceneaux was suspended during the investigation. The charges were dropped, federal officials said, because of difficulty in proving the boys in the images were children.
A young parishioner came forward and confess to downloading the images; however Donald Washington, who was the U.S. Attorney at the time, handled the case and said he did not believe the confession, according to his statement given to The Opelousas Daily World in 2005.
“There is no truth to the allegation that the juvenile placed or even viewed any pornography on the computer. None of the types of images he said he saw even existed,” Washington said.
Washington went on to say the computer had more than 100 pornographic images of young men, but they couldn’t prove they were under the age of 17.
The Catholic Directory has Arceneaux listed “on leave.” As recent as 2013 he was listed in the newspaper as leading the rosary at Lafayette funerals.
Timeline:
1990: Ordained
1991: Our Lady of Sacred Heart, Church Point
1993-1999 : St. Thomas More, Eunice
2001-2002: St. Joseph Church, Rayne
2003-2004: Diocesan Consultors Advocates
2004: St. Francis Regis Church, Arnaudville
2004: Accused of possessing child pornography
2005: Cleared of charges
2006: On leave from church
