A former Catholic priest and serial sex offender was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for drugging and sexually abusing 17 men in Louisiana, the district attorney announced.

Metairie resident Steven Sauer, 61, targeted apparently drunk, lost, and needy men he met in the French Quarter of New Orleans, according to the Jefferson District Attorney. It is said that he administered drugs under the pretext of helping them. Paul D. Connick Jr. Connick Jr. said in a statement: “In some cases, I put drugs in their drinks when they were at the bar, and I used droppers to give them sleeping pills after they passed out from drinking.” it is written like this.

Sauer then drove the men to his home, took pictures and videos of them “in various stages of undressing”, sexually abused them, and drove them to a hotel and other locations the next morning, the statement said. It is said that They also took pictures of the man’s driver’s license and other identification. He also occasionally shared and exchanged explicit images electronically. His crime spanned two years starting in 2019, and most of his victims were out-of-state visitors. (Related: Former priest and convicted pedophile pleads guilty to 72nd victim, faces 193rd conviction)

Steven Sauer, 61, drugged 17 men he met in the French Quarter today, drove them to his home in Metairie, sexually abused several of them, and photographed and videotaped them all. pleaded guilty to @JeffParishSO https://t.co/Zo3s0PEbPu

— Jefferson District Attorney’s Office (@JeffParishDA) July 7, 2023

“Sauer was found guilty of 13 counts of sexual assault, nine counts of third-degree rape, 17 counts of video voyeurism, and 16 misdemeanor counts of possession of legendary drugs without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia. I have,” the statement continued.

Connick Jr. said in June 2021 that the New York electronics repair company to which Sauer sent the hard drive had found hundreds of images on Sauer’s hard drive that suggested sexual assault. triggered an investigation. He added that New York state law enforcement officials determined the images were taken in Metairie and notified the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

While searching Sauer’s home, detectives found a bottle of prescription drugs bearing the name of a convicted sex offender in Missouri. The narcotics included Zolpidem, a popular “date rape” drug, the statement said.

Investigators reportedly believe that more than 50 victims remain unidentified.

Sauer, a professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, and a former Jesuit priest, said the allegations arose after he resigned from both positions. The Los Angeles Loyoran.