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Lawrence Hecker, who left the ministry in 2002, had been
scheduled to stand trial Tuesday. Hecker’s eyes were focused on
the ground as a sheriff’s deputy pushed him toward Orleans
Parish Criminal District Court Judge Nandi Campbell’s courtroom,
The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
Hecker entered his plea to aggravated kidnapping, aggravated
crime against nature, first-degree rape and theft before
Campbell, moments before jury selection was scheduled to begin,
multiple news outlets reported. Sentencing was set for Dec. 18.
He faces life in prison.
The trial had been delayed for months over concerns about
Hecker’s mental competency and because District Judge Ben
Willard recused himself from the case, citing a conflict with
prosecutors. The case was reassigned to Campbell, who ordered
Hecker to undergo routine physical and psychological evaluations
before the trial.
A doctor confirmed that Hecker has Alzheimer’s disease and
dementia, but Hecker was found competent to stand trial,
according to his attorney Bobby Hjortsberg, WDSU-TV reported.
A grand jury indicted Hecker last year following an
investigation that revealed he had confessed to molesting
multiple juveniles over his decades of service with the
Archdiocese of New Orleans. But, the charges brought against him
stem from a single alleged incident that happened between 1975
and 1976, prosecutors have said.
The indictment comes amid a years-old legal battle over a trove
of secret church records that were shielded by a sweeping
confidentiality order after the archdiocese sought Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection in 2020 following a flood of abuse claims.
The records are said to chronicle years of such claims,
interviews with accused clergy and a pattern of church leaders
transferring problem priests without reporting their crimes to
law enforcement.
The alleged survivor in the criminal case against Hecker is
among those who have filed abuse claims against the archdiocese
in its long-running bankruptcy case. To date, more than 600
alleged abuse survivors have filed claims against the
archdiocese.
“It is our hope and prayer that today’s court proceedings bring
healing and peace to the survivor and all survivors of sexual
abuse," the Archdiocese of New Orleans said in a statement. "We
continue to hold all survivors in prayer.”
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