Hosanna Church - Agents Graphically Describe Abuse

By Don Ellzey

Friday, November 30, 2007 11:31 AM CST

AMITE - An FBI agent testified Thursday that Trey Bernard said in an interview that when he first began changing his infant daughter's diapers, his hands would start shaking.

Bernard said he knew he would likely lose control, and he did, special agent Joseph Edwards testified.

Edwards was a witness for the prosecution in the trial of Austin “Trey” Bernard III, 39, of Hammond. Bernard is charged with the aggravated rape of a 2-year-old girl, his daughter, in the Hosanna Church child sex case. The now-defunct church was located off U.S. 51 between Hammond and Ponchatoula and was the site of alleged occult activities and child sex.

Edwards was the fifth witness called by the prosecution since testimony in the trial began Tuesday.

In an interview with Bernard at the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office Substation on June 10, 2005, Edwards said he was told by Bernard that during the diaper changes he began touching his infant daughter. The touching became oral sex and eventually penetration.
Edwards said Bernard claimed to have been molested as a child, which led him to molest children.

Federal prosecutor Lisa Marie Freitas, now with the Child Exploitation Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, was a special agent assigned to the FBI's New Orleans office in 2005.

Freitas testified that she, too, interviewed Bernard, who told her that he had done with his daughter everything a human could do to the body of another human. Much of the abuse occurred while his wife, Nicole Bernard, was working.

She said Bernard told her that he was the first to penetrate his daughter and Louis Lamonica was the second.

She said Bernard described the rituals at the church, although the rituals were not the point of the FBI investigation. Freitas said he volunteered the information.

According to Bernard, the rituals took place in what was called “the room,” which was the church's youth room. He described how six adults would line up shoulder to shoulder and perform sex acts on his daughter or other children, who were passed down the line. The rule was that there would be no penetration or injury.

The rituals had a Satanic theme, including a Pentagram, the use of animals and animal parts such as chicken feet and the use of animal blood.

Freitas said that according to Bernard, Patricia Pierson and Robin Lamonica, two defendants in the case, put animal blood on his daughter during one of the rites. She said Bernard claimed Pierson and Lamonica also sexually abused his daughter.

He said animal blood was also put on other children, Freitas said.

She said she and other FBI agents got a search warrant for the church. Bernard served as a guide, pointing out what the different rooms and areas were used for. Freitas said nothing was in the sanctuary - no pews, no chairs, just a large, empty room.

The youth room was pitch black when the lights were out, she said, but the room was equipped with a black light. When Bernard turned it on, the light revealed writings on the walls from ceiling to floor.

“Every inch, from top to bottom, was writing,” Freitas said.

The writing consisted of songs, lyrics and Biblical verses. Some of the words were inverted or changed, she said.

Using a special chemical, a search team found signs of body fluids all over the carpet, she said. Pieces of the carpet with fluid spots were cut out for evidence.

Freitas testified that federal search warrants were issued for the residence of Chris Labat, one of the seven defendants. Agents met with sheriff's deputies to execute the warrant because Labat was a deputy. The search provided several pieces of evidence, including a computer but nothing that related directly to Bernard.

An interview with Louis Lamonica, another defendant in the case, along with his comments to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, pointed to a church group, Freitas said. Law enforcement agents then began making arrests.

Lamonica, the former pastor of Hosanna Church, turned himself in to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office before Bernard's arrest.

Tangipahoa Parish Detective Mike DePhillip said authorities learned on May 19, 2005, that Bernard was allegedly involved with the Hosanna group, Freitas said. But according to DePhillips, Bernard wanted to speak with FBI agents because some have a background in psychology.

The interview took place June 10, 2005, at the sheriff's substation in Hammond, she said. Freitas and Edwards said Bernard was fully informed of his rights and was advised that he had the right to an attorney. He declined the offer of an attorney and signed the federal form showing he had been advised of his rights.

The interview was not taped because agents did not have permission from the regional FBI office to use a tape recorder or video device, she said.

“The first thing he wanted to know was why things happen the way they do,” Freitas told the court.

She said the agents told him they only wanted to know what he had witnessed.

Bernard said, “Things just happen that way,” she said.

She said he claimed to have been sexually abused as child by his mother. He said he and his wife, Nicole, had a Christian background and he had felt she could “keep him straight.” But he said he had been in a homosexual relationship with Louis Lamonica.

Freitas said that according to Bernard, the group started under the leadership of Lamonica. Lamonica had full control at the church, and it was not long before most members left, including the youth pastor. Bernard replaced him. She said it was Bernard's job to bring the young people to a certain level of sexual behavior and to gauge how they reacted to sexual contact by an adult. About 10 children were in the youth group.

Bernard told the interviewers that the Lamonicas' two sons had been sexually abused by their father from a very young age. Their parents had trained them to lie and they were very good at it, Freitas said, quoting Bernard.

She said she does not feel Bernard sought counseling from anyone outside the church.

Freitas said that according to Bernard, Lois Mowbray was a church member of the church who learned of the sexual abuse but did not report it. Bernard claimed the group used no alcohol or drugs. She said Bernard said he last abused his daughter about two years before his arrest.

Al Bensabat, Bernard's attorney, noted that the federal search warrant was for Labat's residence, not Bernard's. Bensabat said Bernard's wife was present for some of the rituals and that law enforcement agents could not verify the events that Freitas had described.

Responding to a question from Bensabat, Freitas said FBI agents found no pentagram and no animal blood at the church.

According to Edwards, Bernard said he was not sure of some of the events and they may have been a fantasy, but he was very clear about the molestation of his daughter.

Edwards said Bernard thinks Mowbray told him to make a written account of all that had happened. That account, Bernard's diary, was given to the jury for review late Thursday. It is graphic and detailed as to some of the incidents.

The jury also heard the taped interview conducted with Bernard by sheriff's detectives DePhillips and Stuart Murphy shortly after his arrest.

Judge Doug Hughes announced after Thursday's court session that jurors should prepare for a half day of court on Saturday.

Hosanna Church Member Guilty

The verdict is in—Trey Bernard is guilty, and will spend life in prison without the chance of parole.

NOTE: All material about the Hosanna Church case is archived on the index page. Please post comments on that page only.

WWL TV (video clip)

WDSU

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Debra Lemoine's article is the most detailed, so I'm mirroring it in its entirety here:

By DEBRA LEMOINE
Advocate Florida parishes bureau
Published: Dec 4, 2007 - Page: 1A

AMITE — A Tangipahoa Parish jury on Monday evening convicted Austin “Trey” Bernard III of three counts of aggravated rape for his role in the Hosanna Church sex abuse case.

The jurors voted unanimously to convict Bernard in the rape of his 2-year-old daughter. All but one found him guilty in the rape of a 12-year-old boy, 21st Judicial District Attorney Scott Perrilloux said.

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated two hours before reaching a decision.

Bernard faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 12. The District Attorney’s Office declined to seek the death penalty, which is a potential penalty, because of the age of the victims.

Bernard’s attorney, Al Bensabat, said after court that he had to overcome a mountain of evidence against Bernard.

Bernard, 39, of Hammond, is the first of the seven members of the now-defunct Ponchatoula church to go to trial after being indicted in 2005 in the rapes of children.

No trial date has been set for the remaining six suspects. Perrilloux said he anticipates bringing Louis Lamonica to trial in early 2008.

The verdict was greeted by two sobs, one from Bernard’s stepmother, Leslie Bernard, and the other from his ex-wife, Nicole Bernard.

Nicole Bernard, who was arrested but not charged in the case, said the verdict was just.

“I would like to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for justice for my daughter,” she said to reporters outside the courthouse. “I will never quit until the last six are brought to justice.”

Leslie Bernard, Bernard’s stepmother, said through tears on her way to her car that the verdict surprised her because three of Bernard’s alleged victims said they were never abused. One of the victims who recanted was Lamonica’s son, whom Bernard was convicted of raping when the boy was 12.

Trey Bernard said nothing in court after state District Judge Doug Hughes read the verdict. Deputies handcuffed him immediately and led him out a side door in the courtroom before the jury left the room.

In his closing arguments earlier Monday, prosecutor Don Wall described Trey Bernard as a situational abuser, a man who has the desire to molest children and will do so if given the opportunity.

Bernard had a sexual relationship with Lamonica, the 49-year-old Hosanna pastor, Wall said. Through that relationship, the men raped each other’s children, he said.

The rapes stopped in 2003, after Lamonica’s and Bernard’s wives threw them out of their houses and the men moved into the church, Wall told jurors. It wasn’t until the Bernards attempted to reconcile in late 2004 that their daughter began to speak of the abuse, Wall said.

In the meantime, Trey Bernard and others began writing how they abused the children in spiral notebooks. Two of Bernard’s victims also began writing about the abuse at the request of their mother.

“It’s like rats jumping off the sinking ship,” Wall told the jury. “Once it became known that this stuff was going on outside of the group, all of this became serious.”

Throughout the five days of testimony, Wall showed the jury Bernard’s writings, the two victims’ writings, videotaped statements from three children and statements from investigators outlining the three times Bernard confessed the abuse to authorities.

Two young men, one of whom Bernard was charged with raping, testified that Bernard never touched them. However, Wall got them to admit on the stand that their recantations began after both their parents were arrested.

The boys also admitted that they had to say that Bernard never touched them in order to be consistent when they testify at their parents’ trials.

In his closing argument, Wall read excerpts of a 211-page journal Bernard kept in which he outlined how he went from touching his daughter in the bathtub to raping her.

The jury had been allowed to read the journal during the trial.

A couple of jurors cried Monday while Wall read some of the more graphic details of the abuse.

When Bernard testified Monday, he maintained that his ex-wife concocted the rape stories in order to get sole custody of their daughter.

After voluntarily leaving the house, Bernard testified, he moved into the church, but never had sex with Lamonica.

However, over time, women at the church, including his wife, forced him to write that he raped his own daughter and Lamonica’s two sons, Bernard testified.

If he didn’t, his wife threatened to call police and make sure he would never see his daughter again, he said.

Bernard said that if he left the church, he felt he would lose everything, including his only child.

“If they had told me to write I was the Easter Bunny, I would to get out of that insane asylum,” Bernard testified.

Once, at the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office in May 2005, Bernard said he felt he had to confess to the detectives questioning him because of what he had already written.

“Once you start down that path, there is no way out of it,” Bernard testified.

Wall and Perrilloux said that they were pleased with the verdict.

“I never tried anything like it,” Wall said to reporters. “I don’t know anyone who has.”

Witnesses Deny Abuse at Hosanna Church

By DEBRA LEMOINE
Advocate Florida parishes bureau
Published: Dec 2, 2007

AMITE — Two of the three children Austin “Trey” Bernard III is accused of raping maintained on the witness stand Saturday that they never were abused.

The young men, now ages 17 and 21, and Trey Bernard’s now 7-year-old daughter are the three children who, in 2005, accused seven members of the now-defunct Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula of sexually abusing them.

The young girl is not expected to take the stand, but her mother previously has said the child maintains she was abused.

Trey Bernard, 39, of Hammond, is the first church member to go to trial in the 21st Judicial District Court in Amite on charges of aggravated rape of a 2-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy.

On the stand as a prosecution witness, the elder man said that at the time of the alleged sexual abuse, he was told by his mother, Robbin Lamonica, and Trey Bernard’s now ex-wife, Nicole Bernard, to write down the incidents of anal and oral sex forced on him by Trey Bernard and others as well as the abuse he witnessed of the girl and younger boy.

Robbin Lamonica awaits trial on charges of oral sexual battery. The young men’s father, Louis Lamonica, also awaits trial on charges of aggravated rape.

The elder brother testified that Nicole Bernard began to ask him about the abuse after her daughter became old enough to begin talking in early 2005.

“Nicole would say if this happened and you say it didn’t happen, you will go to jail,” the older man said. “If I even thought there was even a remote chance it happened, I said it did.”

The younger man said on the stand that he thinks Lois Mowbray, who was arrested in 2005 but never charged, directed his mother to make him write down the abuse incidents. He even said the women would suggest writing topics to the boys and let the boys fill in the details.

“My mom’s main focus was Dad,” the younger man said. “Then, it’s like, ‘let’s put Trey in there.’”

The older boy did not mention the presence of Mowbray.

While each of the men was on the stand, Assistant District Attorney Don Wall spent more than hour asking them to verify statements they made to numerous people complaining that they were victims of sexual abuse.

The older man verified all the past statements he made to his psychologist, a forensic pediatrician, a social worker with the state Office of Community Services in Livingston, an interviewer with the Child Advocacy Center in Livingston and various law enforcement personnel.

The younger man said he remembered talking about the rape but did not recall some details related to the abuse or some of the people he had told.

In a series of direct questions from Wall, the older man related that he began to recant the abuse allegations after both of his parents were jailed in connection with the Hosanna Church investigation and he had to live with his grandfather.

“I’m saying now it didn’t happen,” the older boy testified of the alleged sexual molestation.

Wall also asked the older man to explain how much it costs his parents to be out of jail.

The older man said each of his parents pays a $300 monthly fee for the electronic monitoring that allows them to live at home.

“If they didn’t have to do that, they could buy you a car,” Wall quipped.

Wall didn’t press the younger man, who testified he has been living in a mental institution since September, as hard as he did the older one.

However, the teenager also admitted he began to recant his accusations of sexual abuse after both of his parents were arrested and he moved in with a grandmother he hadn’t seen in seven years.

Wall also had the men admit that in order to say on the witness stands at the upcoming trials of their parents that their parents never abused them, they must first say Trey Bernard never abused them.

“And the six or eight times you told all these other people, that is just a lie?” Wall asked.

“Basically,” the younger man responded.

After each man’s testimony, Wall had their journals, detailing their alleged abuse, made available for examination by the jury.

The jurors read each journal for about a half-hour each in court.

Copies of those journals were provided to The Advocate upon request.

The young men’s journals contained nearly identical information. They wrote that Trey Bernard and others forced them to have anal and oral sex. They also wrote they witnessed acts of anal, oral and vaginal rape of Trey Bernard’s daughter.

In an interview outside of the courtroom, Bernard’s attorney said he thought the men’s testimony went well for his client.

“I am pleased with the testimony,” defense attorney Al Bensabat said. “Obviously it bolsters our theory of the case which you will find out Monday.”

The state is expected to rest Monday morning. Bensabat said he will call at least three witnesses, including Trey Bernard on Monday.

State District Judge Doug Hughes told members of the jury Saturday that he thinks the case will be given to them for a verdict on Monday as well.

First Witness in Hosanna Case to Take the Stand

By DEBRA LEMOINE
Florida parishes bureau
Published: Nov 28, 2007 - UPDATED: 1:25 p.m.

AMITE — Nicole Bernard testified this morning that she discovered her young daughter had been raped by her then-estranged husband when the girl told her about her nightmares.

Bernard, 38, of Ohio, related the scene as the state’s first witness in its aggravated rape case against Austin “Trey” Bernard III, 39, of Hammond, the first of the Hosanna Church sex abuse suspects to go to trial.

He is accused of having oral sex with his then 2-year-old daughter and anal sex with a 12-year-old boy, Assistant District Attorney Don Wall told the jury in his opening statement.

Trey Bernard is one of seven members of the now defunct Ponchatoula church indicted in 2005 for abusing children.

Wall, in his opening statement, told the jury how Bernard’s now ex-wife discovered he was abusing their daughter and two other boys not related to the couple.

Wall said Trey Bernard confessed to raping these children to Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s detectives and FBI agents.

Bernard was indicted with crimes against only his daughter and the 12-year-old boy, not the other boy, who was 16 at the time.

Public Defender Al Bensabat told the jury in his opening statement that the children were coached by Bernard’s ex-wife to ensure she had total custody of their daughter. In fact, Trey Bernard was served with his divorce papers the same day he was arrested by the Sheriff’s Office in May 2005, Bensabat said.

He also told the jury his client is the victim of a witch hunt by authorities who think they have to take him to trial because of the publicity surrounding the case.

Bensabat also told the jury that Trey Bernard will take the stand later in the trial to testify in his own defense.

After an hour and a half of testimony for the prosecution, the court broke for lunch.

The defense is expected to cross-examine Nicole Bernard when court reconvenes after 1:30 p.m.

Jury Selection in Hosanna Church Trial

Jury selection starts for church member accused of child rape

AMITE, La. -- Tales of devil worship will not play a major role in the trial of a man accused of having sex with children as part of occult rituals alleged to have occurred among members of a now-defunct south Louisiana church, a prosecutor said.

Jury selection began Tuesday morning in the case of Austin "Trey" Bernard III, 39, of Hammond, who faces three counts of aggravated rape involving children, including a 2-year-old girl.

Bernard is the first of seven members of Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula who are charged in the case. He is the first to go on trial since the allegations broke in 2005. The others are free on bail, awaiting trial.

The crimes allegeldy occurred in 2001 and 2002 and there were reports that satanic rituals and the killing of dogs and cats were involved. But Don Wall, an assistant district attorney in Tangipahoa Parish, told potential jurors that there would be little mention of that at trial because devil worship is not against the law.

"It is against the law to have sex with a child under 12," he said.

Wall also noted that there would be little or no physical evidence because so much time passed between the alleged crimes and the reporting of them.

"This is not CSI. There is no DNA, not a lot of physical evidence. Sometimes it is just people telling you what happened," Wall said.

Three jurors had been seated as of early afternoon from among close to 80 potential jurors who showed up at the courthouse Tuesday for the trial.

Bernard faced three counts of aggravated rape, including two counts involving a 2-year-old girl and one involving a juvenile boy. Conviction would mean life in prison for Bernard. Prosecutors decided against seeking the death penalty.

State District Judge Doug Hughes told potential jurors he expects the trial to last four or five days. However, public defender Al Bensabat, who represents Bernard, said it will be difficult to get a jury in Tangipahoa Parish, where the case has drawn extensive publicity. "It's been tried in the press for two years," Bensabat said.

Last week, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge rejected defense appeals concerning the testimony of possible state witnesses.

Hughes ruled on Oct. 9 that two young men, now ages 21 and 17, can take the witness stand, even though the prosecution and defense attorneys told the judge that they anticipate they will testify that they were not abused when they were minors. If so, their testimony would conflict with previous statements the men gave to psychiatrists and law enforcement authorities, attorneys have said in court hearings.

The men also are considered witnesses to the abuse of the girl, Wall has said. The girl is not expected to testify.

Hosanna Church debate continues

If you have any interest in the Hosanna Church case, you might want to check out the recent comments on the Hosanna Church index page.

Attorney gets copy of Hosanna suspect’s confession

Attorney gets copy of suspect’s confession

By DEBRA LEMOINE
Advocate Florida parishes bureau
Published: May 10, 2007 - Page: 4b

AMITE — Prosecutors have turned over a videotaped confession by Austin “Trey” Bernard III — one of seven people accused in the Hosanna Church of Ponchatoula child-rape case — to Bernard’s defense attorney, according to court officials and court documents.

Defense Attorney Al Benzabet told 21st Judicial District Court Judge Doug Hughes in a pre-trial hearing Wednesday he received the videotaped statement made by Bernard, 38, who is accused of one count of aggravated rape.

After the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Don Wall said that for more than a year he sifted through a voluminous amount of evidence before he could complete this phase of the prosecution.

Bernard’s trial is scheduled Aug. 27.

Trial dates for the other six defendants, indicted for aggravated rape and other sexual crimes, have not been set.

Bernard’s pending trial comes more than two years after fellow church member and pastor Louis D. Lamonica, 47, allegedly walked into the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office and confessed to raping three children as part of an occult ritual.

Following Lamonica’s arrest, eight other members of the now-defunct church were arrested; two of whom have not been charged by the District Attorney’s Office.

Bernard confessed to the crime in that taped statement, according to written reports from the Sheriff’s Office filed in the court record.

Benzabet told the judge he plans to file motions to suppress evidence at the next hearing, set for Aug. 14.

Bernard, who was released from the Tangipahoa Parish Jail on Nov. 22, 2006, in lieu of a $50,000 bond, is being monitored by an electronic-tracking device, court records show.

He had been given permission by the court to go to Florida, the minutes of a Feb. 12 court hearing indicate.

Bernard was present in court Wednesday, dressed in khaki slacks, tie and a blue sports coat.

Second Chance for Hosanna Church

A second chance for Louisiana church
New assembly taking over site of alleged abuse

By DEBRA LEMOINE
The (baton Rouge) Advocate

PONCHATOULA, LA. — A Ponchatoula church shut down amid criminal allegations that some of its members engaged in ritualistic abuse of children is being reborn as a home for a new congregation.

Christian Life Assembly of God in Hammond is renovating the former Hosanna Church building in Ponchatoula and moving its church there, said the Rev. Gary Wayne Yates of Christian Life.

Seven members of the former Hosanna Church were arrested and charged in the sexual abuse of three children in April and May 2004. All are awaiting trial, and the first trial is scheduled for August.

The General Council of the Assemblies of God petitioned the 21st Judicial District Court in Amite last year to take ownership of the former Hosanna Church, which began as an Assembly member church.

Once the governing body obtained rights to the church, its officials offered the facility to Christian Life in exchange for its Hammond property, Yates said. By unanimous vote of its congregation, Christian Life decided to move to Ponchatoula, Yates said.

To Yates and his 150-member congregation, the move into the facility shows another way that God can turn something bad into good, the pastor said.

"There's going to be a great thing here," Yates said.

Early in the investigation, authorities alleged that the abuse was part of a satanic ritual but later said investigators found no physical evidence of such rituals.

Yates said that his church received the building as it was after detectives combed it for evidence. The church members also have found no evidence of occult rituals.

Yates, too, does not believe occult activities took place at the church. To him, it is simply a building that will once again be used as a church.

Yates said he believes his sentiment is shared by the Ponchatoula and Hammond residents who have called offering support. So far, the air conditioning units and the paint have been donated, he said.

The construction labor and expertise are being provided by Mission America Placement Services, also known as MAPS, a home missions arm of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, Yates said. Earlier this month, a half-dozen MAPS volunteers from across the U.S. worked on the sanctuary's newly installed drywall.

1st Trial in Hosanna Case - August, 2007

First trial scheduled for Ponchatoula rape case

By DEBRA LEMOINE
Advocate Florida parishes bureau
Published: Nov 16, 2006

AMITE — The first of the seven members of a Ponchatoula church charged by a grand jury with raping children will go on trial in August, District Judge Doug Hughes ordered Wednesday.

Austin “Trey” Bernard III, 38, of Hammond will be tried on two counts of aggravated rape starting Aug. 27 in 21st Judicial District Court in Amite. No trial date has been set for the other six indicted members of the congregation.

Bernard is among the nine members of the now-defunct Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula arrested in May 2005 in an investigation focusing on complaints of alleged rape of children. He also is the only one of the seven indicted who has not gotten out of jail on bond.

Some of those arrested allegedly told investigators that the sexual abuse was part of a Satanic ritual. No physical evidence of the alleged rites were found during searches at the church and the suspects’ homes, investigators have said.

During Wednesday’s hearing in 21st Judicial District Court at Amite, Bernard’s attorney, Al Bensabet, noted that his motion for discovery — the request for all the evidence against his client to which he is entitled — has not been answered 18 months after his client’s indictment.

Hughes noted Bensabet’s statement for the record but did not comment further about it.

Assistant District Attorney Don Wall, the lead prosecutor in the case, said after the hearing that he is still going through the voluminous amount of material seized in the case. The materials include everything from computers to furniture stored in a large freight trailer at the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Wall turned over to the defense a report made by Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Detective Michael DePhillips after DePhillips interviewed Bernard on May 19, 2005. The interview was videotaped, but neither the tape nor its transcript has been turned over to defense.

The interview takes place after Bernard allegedly confessed his involvement to investigators, according to DePhillips’ report.

Bernard implicated his ex-wife, who was not indicted, and the wife of the pastor, Robbin Lamonica, 47, of Hammond, who is facing child rape charges. Bernard alleges they participated in a ritual to offer a young girl to Satan by sprinkling the child with blood while inside a pentagram, the report says. Then, Bernard says that each person present allegedly raped the child, the report says.

Bernard also alleges that Robbin and the former pastor, Louis Lamonica, 47, of Hammond, had sex with a different girl in their home. He also allegedly told the detective that Louis Lamonica and another church member who was not arrested allegedly would go to a hotel in New Orleans to have sex with the child involved in the ritual.

NOTE: The index of articles about this case can be found here.

Hosanna Church Case Update - 9.29.06

I've received some interesting information about the case -- as always, with the caveat that this is secondhand information and I cannot vouch for its veracity. If anyone has confirmatory documentation, please feel free to send them to me (anonymously or otherwise).

According to my sources, a ranking detective in the Hosanna Church case left the Tangipahoa Parish sherrif's office because of the corruption he witnessed. According to the same source, five -- yes, five -- detectives resigned after the Hosanna investigation concluded.

One of the five was Michael DePhillips.

This story just gets stranger and stranger.

I'd like to encourage those living in Ponchatoula (and nearby) who are following this case to post any links from local media in the comments section. I'd also appreciate scans or clippings, since apparently some of the stories that get printed in the newspapers don't get published in the online editions -- which makes it difficult for me to stay up-to-date.

Hosanna Church Cult and Coverup - Index

Since I've been getting so much traffic to the individual Hosanna Church articles, I decided to archive them all in one spot, and make them always accessible from the main page (the right sidebar).

I am always looking for personal insights into this case from Ponchatoula residents or anyone else with a connection to the alleged crimes. Please email me, and I will maintain strict anonymity if requested.

UPDATE 10/22/2008: Ex-pastor gets concurrent life terms in child sex case (2theadvocate.com)

UPDATE: 9/24/2008: Thanks to the nitwit(s) who are spamming the blog's comments, I'm turning on comment moderation. Comments can still be anonymous, but they'll have to be approved by me.

UPDATE 8/24/2008: Trial of Louis Lamonica Begins

UPDATE: I hadn't seen this article from the Hammond Star, which is the first to describe the ritualistic aspects from a law enforcement official: Agents Graphically Describe Abuse (11/30/2007)

UPDATE: Guilty Verdict in Hosanna Church Rape Trial (Video, WWLTV)

UPDATE: Hosanna Jury Likely to Get Case (Dec. 3, 2007) (2theadvocate)

UPDATE: Witness: Bernard Would 'Confess': Ex-Churchmember Says He Also Recanted (Dec. 1, 2007) (2theadvocate)

UPDATES: Detectives Pray, Quote Scripture During Hosanna Case Interrogations (Nov. 30, 2007) (2theadvocate); Witnesses Deny Abuse at Hosanna Church (Dec. 2, 2007) (2theadvocate)

UPDATE: FBI Agent Testifies in Hosanna Trial (Nov. 29, 2007) (2theadvocate)

UPDATE: Child's Nightmares Launched Case (Nov. 29, 2007) (2theadvocate)

UPDATE: First Witness in Hosanna Church Case to Take the Stand (Nov. 28, 2007) (2theadvocate.com)

UPDATE: Jury Selection in Austin "Trey" Bernard's trial
Jury Selection Starts for Church Member Accused of Child Rape (KATC3)

UPDATE: August 15, 2007
Defense: Witnesses Recant (2theadvocate.com)

UPDATE: May 10, 2007
Attorney Gets Copy of Hosanna Suspect's Confession (2theadvocate.com)

UPDATE: December 23, 2006
I know some of my sources have spoken about shady dealings in regards to the church property. As always, feel free to contact me privately or post anonymously to the comments section if the full story is not being covered.

A Second Chance for Hosanna Church

UPDATE: November 16, 2006
First Trial Scheduled for August, 2007

September 29, 2006 - Resignations in the Sheriff's Department

March 5, 2006
Hosanna May Reach Trial in '06 (2theadvocate.com)

January 23, 2006
Coverup Continues

December 19, 2005.
DA: Hosanna trial priority

Hosanna Coverup (part 1)

Hosanna Coverup (part 2)

Hosanna Coverup (part 3)

Hosanna Coverup (part 4)

Hosanna Church Update - The Evidence Emerges

Hosanna Church Update -- Charges Put on Hold (Monday, September 19, 2005)

DA to Seek New Indictments in Hosanna Church Sex Case (Thursday, September 15, 2005)

Hosanna Church Cult and "Brainwashing"

Community-based Ritual Abuse and the Hosanna Church Cult

Related:

Is "Brother" Mike DePhillips "Detective" Mike DePhillips?

Hosanna Coverup, the DA, and Sadie Henderson

Rick A. Ross Institute's collection of related links

Rigorous Intuition