Investigators conducted three full days of interviews last week in a probe of Bishop Michael Duca, ordered by the Vatican over the Diocese of Baton Rouge's handling of a report of sexual abuse by a parish priest, two witnesses told the Register. 

“They’re all about the timing, why it took so long,” the purported victim, a man in his mid-60s, told the Register, on condition of anonymity. “They wanted to connect a lot of dots.” 

The man told the Register he and his wife spoke with the investigators for about 1 hour 45 minutes on Wednesday, June 3. 

The investigators represent the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which is conducting the investigation, but they are lay professionals from out of state, said Luke Zumo, a longtime friend of the purported victim. 

A spokesman for the Diocese of Baton Rouge declined comment Monday morning. 

Zumo filed the initial complaint against Bishop Duca under Vos Estis Lux Mundi, an apostolic letter issued by Pope Francis in May 2019 that established a process for investigating bishops in sexual abuse cases, including how bishops handle complaints about clerics under their charge.  

Before Vos Estis, the Church had systems in place to file a complaint against a priest or a deacon, but no system in place to file a complaint against a bishop. 

As the Register reported last month, the accuser says the then-pastor of St. Isidore the Farmer in Baker, Louisiana, Father Charbel Jamhoury, used an early-morning meeting on a Saturday in late September 2025 to make sexual advances on the man and stated that he missed having oral sex with boys. 

The accuser says he contacted the Diocese of Baton Rouge in early October 2025 but that diocesan officials were slow to act. He says it took Bishop Duca three months to remove the priest from the parish and that he did so only under pressure of a law enforcement investigation and public disclosure.

Meanwhile, parishioners were not told about the allegations against the priest until February 2026, he said. 

The accuser told the Register on Friday that Bishop Duca informed him by text in mid-May that Father Jamhoury, a Maronite-rite priest originally from Lebanon, has left the United States, though the bishop didn’t say where he had gone. 

The priest has denied the accuser’s allegations, telling parishioners that the incident was a misunderstanding, the accuser told the Register. 

In mid-May, a diocesan spokesman said diocesan officials had hired a private investigator to look into the allegations against the pastor last fall, and then in late December 2025 announced that Father Jamhoury “would temporarily leave the parish for a full health evaluation of his physical, mental, and psychological well-being at a professional, inpatient facility outside of the diocese.” 

“After extensive conversation with all parties involved and an investigation which also included interviews by law enforcement, the diocesan investigation, and the full health assessment of Father Jamhoury, Bishop Duca determined that Father Charbel be removed from his office as Pastor of St. Isidore effective immediately, and this was accomplished in early February,” the diocese said in a written statement provided to the Register on May 12. 

Experienced Investigators 

Zumo told the Register he met with two investigators for about 90 minutes on Thursday morning, June 4. He added that the investigators interviewed additional witnesses on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week.  

Zumo said the investigators are familiar with Vos Estis and made references to it, and that they said they have conducted comparable investigations of bishops in the past. 

“They were clearly very experienced at handling this type of case and this process,” Zumo said. “They’re very professional, and they definitely came across as objective and neutral. I appreciate the way they conducted themselves.”  

He said the investigators asked him not to speak publicly about the substance of the discussion they had, so Zumo confined his remarks to the Register about the process. 

He said that when he met with the investigators they already had all of the paperwork he had filed with the Diocese of Baton Rouge and based much of their interview of him on it. 

“It was not really delivering any new information to them. Just telling the story verbally, and answering any questions that they had,” Zumo said. 

New Orleans Archbishop James Checchio has until early July to make a report to the Vatican, according to the timing standards provided by Vos Estis, though he can request an extension. 

Zumo said the investigators told him that it’s not clear when the Vatican will make a decision in the case, but that it could take a long time. 

“They said they’re moving at a timeline, but once they submit it to the Vatican, the timeline is out of their control, and the timeline could be drawn out,” Zumo said. 

Zumo said he is pleased with the efficiency and thoroughness of the investigation so far. 

“I would say this week was encouraging, to see a formal next step to be taken, be very professionally conducted, and to see people from our diocese show a real willingness and desire to come forward with what they know,” Zumo said. 

‘His Soul’s in Danger’ 

When asked by the Register what he hopes comes from the Vos Estis investigation, the accuser said some of his goals have already been met, including the removal of the priest from St. Isidore the Farmer parish and getting him to leave the United States. 

He said he also hopes the priest repents of his actions. 

“His soul’s in danger, for saying what he did and doing what he did,” the man said. “I don’t want an apology from him. I already forgave him.” 

He said he also wanted to make sure that people in other parishes where the priest has served know about the incident at St. Isidore, in case the priest acted similarly in the past. 

In addition, the man said he wants to make sure that the Diocese of Baton Rouge handles comparable complaints differently going forward. 

“As far as the diocese is concerned, I would like them to follow the right procedure when this case comes up,” the man said. “Obviously, they didn’t.” 

The man said he and his wife have been attending other Catholic churches since the incident. He added that they currently have a difficult relationship with some St. Isidore parishioners, who he said believe what the former pastor had told them about the incident. 

“A lot of them are looking at us like, ‘Y’all are in the wrong,’” the man said. “Until the full truth comes out, and they all know, it’s going to be hard for us to go back.” 

He said that although the incident and the aftermath have been upsetting for him and his wife, he believes it happened for a higher purpose. 

“Thank God it was me, and I prayed it was no one else,” the man told the Register. “The Lord chose me to bring this priest to exposure. And that’s the way we’re getting through this — we’re finding the positive out of it.”