1980s Catholic Church molestation victim beaten to death in Lake Charles

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KLFY) — The man who started the Catholic Church’s reckoning with clerical molestation when he testified in the 1980s that his priest had raped him was recently beaten to death in Lake Charles, authorities said.

Scott Anthony Gastal, 50, was found in the parking lot of a motel in the 1000 block of N. Lakeshore Drive around 10 p.m. on March 2. Gastal appeared to have head injuries, and he was taken to a Lafayette hospital, where he died on Tuesday.

Reese Iles Chaumont, 28, of Lake Charles, was charged with second-degree battery, which was upgraded to second-degree murder when Gastal died, authorities said. Chaumont was originally arrested March 2 by Lake Charles Police on unrelated charges about an hour after the incident occurred, officials said.

Gastal suffered sexual abuse at the age of 11 at the hands of former Lafayette priest Gilbert Gauthe. Gauthe admitted in 1985 to sexually abusing 37 children and accepted a plea bargain in which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Chaumont is being held in the Calcasieu Correctional Center on $650,000 bond.

Detectives say this is an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact Lake Charles Police at (337) 491-1311 or anonymously leave a tip on the Lake Charles PD app.

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