The circumstances surrounding it make me sick, and they ought to make you sick too. I was just made aware of the story of a former deacon, Scott Peyton, who has been excommunicated by Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette just this week.
This is the second time I’ve had to write about abuse in 24 hours, but I just can’t let it go unnoticed. Please be warned that I’m writing about a sexual abuse case and there will be some disturbing descriptions.
Peyton’s teenage son was sexually abused by Father Michael Guidry, who got the boy drunk and then assaulted him when he was sixteen. Guidry and Peyton were both at Saint Peter’s Church. They served together at the altar. As a mother of an adolescent myself, I can’t even imagine what agony Peyton and his son must be suffering.
This abuse is not just an allegation. Guidry pleaded guilty in 2019 and is currently in prison. He’s shown no remorse and even claimed that it was for the boy’s own good. He also testified in a deposition that he admitted what he had done to five other priests in a support group, which was not bound by the seal of confession and where all the priests were mandated reporters under safe environment laws, but none of the priests said anything to anyone. The victim himself said nothing for three years.