NEW ORLEANS — A well-known brother who worked at Jesuit High School on-and-off for decades is among the latest suspects to be added to the Jesuit Order's list of sexual abusers.
According to a report by The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate, Brother Everard J. Booth, S.J., a Jesuit who started at the school in the 1940s and worked on-and-off there until his death in the 1980s, has multiple allegations of abuse against him that are credible.
The revelations came on Feb. 20, when the Jesuit organization for the southern U.S. added Everard and three other brothers to their list of suspected abusers that was originally released in December of 2018.
It's believed Everard, who died in a car crash in 1986, abused at least one minor in the 1960s. The order did not specify where they believe the incidents happened.
Everard worked at Jesuit High and in seminaries and offices in New Orleans but also spent time assigned to St. Charles College in Grand Coteau and two colleges in Sri Lanka, according to the order.
NOLA.com reports Booth joined the Jesuit order in 1934 and began working at Jesuit High in 1941 before leaving on a mission to Sri Lanka in 1946. He returned to the high school in 1971 and worked as a teacher, bookstore manager and disciplinarian until his death.
For years, Jesuit High had offered an endowed scholarship in Booth's name. However, that scholarship is no longer listed on the school's website, NOLA.com reports
The four other Jesuits named as abusers along with Everard are José Angel Borges, James D. Loeffler and Benjamin Smylie -- all of whom are deceased. Besides Everard, only Loeffler worked in Louisiana, when he was stationed at Christ the King Parish in Grand Coteau.
The update to the Jesuit Order's list now means 46 priests, priests-in-training or brothers have credible accusations of sexual abuse against a minor.
According to NOLA.com, roughly half-dozen of those named worked at Jesuit High when the abuse occurred.
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