Rev. Pat Wattigny Arrested
Police in Georgia have arrested Roman Catholic priest Patrick Wattigny on a St. Tammany Parish warrant accusing him of sexually abusing a minor in 2013 while he was leading a Slidell church, authorities said Friday.
Wattigny’s arrest comes a little more than three weeks after he allegedly admitted to the Archdiocese of New Orleans that he sexually abused a minor in 2013. He faces four counts of molestation of a juvenile, all stemming from the same alleged victim, the St. Tammany officials said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Wattigny started grooming the alleged victim when the victim was 15. It allegedly began with conversation that led to telephone calls, text messages and then private visits. Wattigny, now 53, is accused of molesting the alleged victim on at least four of those visits, including some times in a church rectory.
Wattigny was then in his first year as the pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist near Slidell.