A Lake Charles judge has been removed from a clergy sexual abuse lawsuit after it was revealed he failed to fully disclose his financial ties to the church at the center of the case.
Judge Kendrick Guidry of the 14th Judicial District Court has recused himself from a lawsuit in which a woman, identified only as Jane Doe, accuses Father James Burke of sexually abusing her dozens of times during confession at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Lake Charles.
The alleged abuse occurred when she was between 5 and 9 years old, from approximately 1985 to 1989.
What Happened at the March 31st. Hearing
At a March 31 hearing, Guidry disclosed that he was a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary — the defendant church.
Both sides agreed that church membership alone was not disqualifying, and the hearing proceeded.
Guidry then sided with the Diocese of Lake Charles, ruling that Louisiana’s so-called “lookback law” — which allows childhood sexual abuse survivors to file claims that had previously expired — was an unconstitutional “taking” of the church’s property rights.
That ruling made Guidry the only Louisiana judge to rule against the lookback window after the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in June 2024.
Attorney General Liz Murrill had filed a legal brief in the case defending the law’s constitutionality.
The Hidden Tie: Finance Committee Membership
What Guidry did not disclose at the March 31 hearing was that he had recently joined Immaculate Heart of Mary’s Finance Committee, giving him a direct financial interest in the outcome of the case.
Attorneys for Jane Doe filed a motion for recusal on April 15, after learning of Guidry’s committee role.
In an email obtained by WWL-TV and The Guardian, Guidry acknowledged the omission, writing that his Finance Committee appointment was “still new to me and it slipped my mind at the recent hearing.”
Guidry updated his biography on the 14th Judicial District Court’s website on April 15 — the same day the recusal motion was filed — to reflect his Finance Committee membership.
Case Reassigned
The case has been reassigned to Judge Michael Canaday, also of the 14th Judicial District Court.
Notably, Canaday previously ruled against the same constitutional arguments the Diocese used before Guidry, in a separate clergy abuse case involving a Lake Charles diocese church.
7News reached out to Judge Guidry for comment. He declined to respond.