Global Courant
A former Louisiana priest pleaded guilty to drugging and molesting 17 men he rounded up in the French Quarter and was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison.
Stephen Sauer, 61, of Metairie admitted targeting men who looked lost or drunk. He then drugged the men while offering them help, sometimes putting drugs in their drinks at bars.
Other times, the former Catholic priest used a pipette to give sleep-inducing substances to men who passed out from alcohol, according to a press release from the office of Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul D. Connick, Jr.
Sauer took the victims to his home, where he videotaped or photographed the men while they were unconscious. He admitted to harassing some of the men and even gave them a ride back to their hotels or other locations the next morning.
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Stephen Sauer, a former Catholic priest, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for molesting 17 men. (Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators at the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office found that Sauer shared the images on a website and sometimes traded images with others via email.
The district attorney’s office said many of the victims were from out of state, separated from their friends or lost when Sauer approached them.
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FILE- Judge holding a gavel in courtroom. Stephen Sauer was sentenced to 25 years in prison for molesting men he picked up in Louisiana’s French Quarter.
All of the incidents for which Sauer was connected and charged took place between 2019 and 2021.
In June 2021, Sauer sent his computer’s hard drive to a New York company for repair.
The technician saw that the hard drive contained hundreds of images suggesting sexual assault had occurred and contacted New York law enforcement.
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New York investigators were able to determine that the photos were taken in Metairie and contacted the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Many of the victims were identified by detectives because Sauer took pictures of their ID cards.
When detectives executed a search warrant at Sauer’s home, they found bottles of prescription pills that had been prescribed to a convicted sex offender in Missouri. They also found the date-rape drug, Zolpidem.
He pleaded guilty in the presence of Judge Shayna Beevers Morvant to 13 counts of sexual battery, nine counts of third-degree rape, 17 counts of video voyeurism, all felony counts, and 16 counts of possession of non-prescription drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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The judge sentenced Sauer to 25 years in prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He is also forbidden to contact 12 of the victims, according to the OM.
Investigators believe there are more than 50 unidentified victims connected to Sauer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
