John Douglas Deshotel

John Douglas Deshotel (born January 6, 1952) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana since 2016. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Dallas in Texas from 2010 to 2016.

Biography

Early life John Deshotel was born on January 6, 1952, in Basile, Louisiana, one of eight children of Welfoot Paul Deshotel and Luna Marie Manuel. Deciding as a teenager to become a priest, John Deshotel entered Immaculata Minor Seminary High School in Lafayette, Louisiana. After his 1978 ordination, the diocese assigned Deshotel as parochial vicar at the following Texas parishes:

St. Patrick in Dallas (1978 to 1980) St. Anthony Parish in Longview (1980 to 1982) St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Dallas (1982 to 1983) St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Longview (1983 to 1988)

In March 2024, Deshotel excommunicated Scott Peyton, a former deacon, for leaving the Catholic Church with his family. In 2018, Peyton's son Oliver Peyton had accused Reverend Michael Guidry of sexually assaulting him when he was 16 years old. Guidry was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2019 for the crime. The diocese paid a court-ordered financial settlement to the Peyton family in 2021. Scott Peyton resigned as deacon in December 2023 and told Deshotel the family was leaving the church.