State troopers say they recovered documents that ‘back’ New Orleans clergy sexual abuse claims

Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans is being investigated for child sex trafficking, the warrant for which was recently served

The Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans is the target of an active child sex trafficking investigation, according to a sweeping and unprecedented search warrant Louisiana state police recently served on an organization that for decades has been submerged in the global church’s clergy molestation scandal.

The clerk at the state criminal courthouse where the warrant was signed released the 11-page document Tuesday. It makes clear that troopers involved in a pending rape prosecution against one priest came to suspect that that case was part of a broader pattern of “widespread sexual abuse of minors dating back decades” that was “covered up and not reported to law enforcement”.