Kristi S. Schubert
NEW ORLEANS — A federal jury has awarded a Florida man nearly $2.4 million in damages for pain and mental anguish as a result of the child sexual abuse he suffered at a school affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.
The verdict for plaintiff John Lousteau was announced June 25 in the Eastern District of Louisiana. The law firm representing Lousteau, the Lamothe Law Firm, said it was the first trial to occur in the state for a claim advanced under a 2021 law extending the statute of limitations for child sex abuse incidents that occurred decades earlier.
In Lousteau’s case, the sexual abuse incidents occurred in 1968 or 1969 at Holy Cross School in New Orleans by a brother in the Congregation of Holy Cross Southern Province, Stanley Repucci, according to the plaintiff’s complaint for damages.
Repucci, who is now deceased, monitored a large dormitory at Holy Cross School, according to Lousteau’s complaint. The plaintiff attended summer camp at the New Orleans school on two occasions while he was 10 or 11 years old, the lawsuit says.
One of the sexual abuse incidents occurred in Repucci’s room, while another took place in the plaintiff’s dorm room, according to the complaint.
In 2020, Lousteau told representatives of defendant Holy Cross about the abuse he suffered at the hands of school instructor Repucci, the lawsuit states. In turn, a Holy Cross representative promised an unbiased investigation of the complaint and said the school would provide him with therapy, according to the complaint, but ultimately Holy Cross cut off communication with Lousteau.
The lawsuit said that as a result of the abuse, he suffered extreme emotional and physical abuse, loss of religious faith, an inability to enjoy normal sexual relations, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and drug abuse, and chronic depression.
“Defendants Holy Cross and Holy Cross School are liable … based, among other things, upon their failure to supervise and monitor clergy, and to ensure that minors would not be sexually molested and abused by priests, brothers and/or other clergy,” the complaint says.
The total damages award for pain, suffering and mental anguish was for $2,375,000.
The Lamothe Law Firm called the jury’s decision a major victory for Lousteau and one that would bring needed closure for the plaintiff.
“We are incredibly pleased with the jury’s decision, which validates Mr. Lousteau’s claims, and the harm caused by the abuse he endured as a child,” Kristi S. Schubert, who served as Lousteau’s counsel, said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record. “This verdict is a testament to the facts presented, and we are proud to have represented Mr. Lousteau in achieving this just outcome.”
Louisiana’s 2021 lookback law, House Bill 492, provided a three-year window for child sexual abuse victims to file claims for damages. The window has since been extended by the state Legislature until 2027. Under previous Louisiana statutes, a child sexual abuse victim could not seek such damages 10 years after reaching the age of majority, or 28 years.
The average age for victims of child sexual abuse to report such incidents is 52 years, according to the nonprofit Child USA, which also reports that the average child molester will abuse, at a minimum, 150 children.
