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A judge on Wednesday morning sentenced Lawrence Hecker to mandatory life in prison, a little more than two weeks after the 93-year-old priest unexpectedly pleaded guilty earlier this month to violently raping a teenage boy nearly 50 years ago in a New Orleans church’s gym.
Hecker pleaded guilty to first-degree rape, aggravated crime against nature, aggravated kidnapping and theft on Dec. 3, avoiding a trial scheduled to begin that day.
Though the charges against him stemmed from a single incident in 1975, prosecutors said several men had been prepared to testify at trial that Hecker also sexually abused them.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans, where Hecker served, has been besieged by more than 600 claims of credible accusations of sexual assault as part of a its long-running bankruptcy case.
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Nandi Campbell tearfully sentenced Hecker following the harrowing testimony of three survivors in the bankruptcy case, including the man at the center of the criminal case and two others whose claims against Hecker are too old to be pursued in criminal court.
In the crime for which Hecker pleaded guilty, the survivor said Hecker offered to teach him wrestling moves in the weight room of St. Theresa the Little Flower ahead of tryouts for St. John Vianney Prep’s team. “It started innocently enough,” the survivor said, until Hecker told him to get down on his hands and knees and raped him from behind.
“I tried to get up. I pulled up,” said the survivor. “I realized his left arm was over my neck. I don’t remember much after that.”
When the survivor reported the rape to his parents and the church, he was ordered to a psychiatric evaluation for his “fantasy” stories, or face expulsion.
Another survivor, who said Hecker fondled and molested him three times over a three-year period, called Hecker “an animal” and “an evil predator,” who “deceived and manipulated us into believing your actions were OK.” Hecker, the other survivor said, “robbed us of our innocence.”
A third survivor said he never reported that Hecker had molested him under the guise of a hernia exam in 1968. “My guilt all these years was not telling anyone in authority what had happened,” he said. “If only I would have told someone about you, perhaps, just perhaps, I could have saved others.”
The Times-Picayune does not typically identify survivors of sexual abuse.
As the men spoke, Hecker sat in a wheelchair, fidgeting — twisting his fingers together, brushing his unkempt gray hair across his balding head, adjusting his thick black-rimmed glasses — often unwilling to meet the survivors’ eyes. He periodically groaned, interrupting their statements.
Claims of Hecker’s mental and physical degradation delayed his trial for nearly a year, as his attorneys argued the former priest was unable to assist in his defense. Psychiatrists deemed him competent after tests showed Hecker has mild-to-moderate dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
But Hecker’s trial was delayed yet again on Sept. 24, when Criminal District Court Judge Benedict Willard abruptly recused himself from the case, which he had presided over since Hecker’s arrest last year. Hecker’s case was reassigned to Campbell, who set the Dec. 3 trial date.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
