NEW ORLEANS — Ex-priest Lawrence Hecker pleaded guilty Tuesday morning on all counts in a long-delayed rape trial. The former Catholic priest will be sentenced this month.
Hecker's guilty plea marks a significant turning point in a case that has experienced repeated delays for 16 months. The trial, which had been anticipated to begin Tuesday with jury selection, abruptly ended when the plea was entered. Now, the focus shifts to the implications of Hecker’s plea and the sentencing process ahead.
Hecker's attorney Bobby Hjortsberg spoke outside of Orleans Criminal Court soon after the plea was announced, saying that it was a matter of Hecker "deciding that he wanted to take responsibility for the crimes that he committed."
"This was the day before the trial. And I think he came to the realization of what that was going to look like, and he made the decision to enter a guilty," Hjortsberg said.
Hecker's guilty plea eliminated the need for the trial involving decades-old allegations and recent revelations of abuse and coverup. The plea brings an end to months of legal wrangling over his competency to stand trial.
Hecker, 93, pleaded guilty to all counts -- aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft for suffocating a teenage boy until he was unconscious and raping him in a church in 1975.
He denied the charges but confessed to molesting several underage boys in the 1960s and 70s, describing them as “100% willing.” In an on-camera interview with WWL Louisiana and the Guardian, he said he had believed at the time that the “sexual revolution” made him “free” to have sex with the teens but he is now “truly repentant,” claiming “we didn’t know then what we know now,” despite clear laws in place at the time against adults having sex with minors.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams praised the guilty plea, calling it a milestone for Hecker’s victims.
"He pled guilty to every single count," Williams said. "He understands that when we come back on the 18th, the judge is going to sentence him to a life sentence. And I believe this investigation and this prosecution represents a critical moment for some little boys who are now men -- some of them who are now grandfathers, who have lived with this horrific abuse for years."
"Decades ago, these little boys told adults what happened to them and they weren't believed. There were a lot of legal mechanisms and gymnastics just to get to a trial date. And I knew when we got this firm trial date, there would not be a place for this predator to run."
"We know them, we know their stories," said Richard Trahant, the attorney for the victims speaking on their behalf. "We know how not only credible, but incredibly compelling and sad, gut-wrenching these stories are ... there really wasn't any solid defense that they could put forth."
The Hecker case also carried broader implications for the New Orleans Archdiocese, which is embroiled in a costly bankruptcy while facing more than 500 child molestation claims against more than 300 of its priests. The State Police investigation of Hecker unearthed evidence of a broader coverup by church leaders, which prompted a widening criminal probe of the archdiocese itself on suspicion of operating a massive child sex trafficking ring.
Watch our Live Coverage on Hecker's guilty plea (Story continues below video)
Soon after Hecker pleaded guilty, The Archdiocese of New Orleans sent a statement but declined to comment on its role in covering up Hecker’s crimes:
“It is our hope and prayer that today’s court proceedings bring healing and peace to the survivor and all survivors of sexual abuse. We continue to hold all survivors in prayer.”
Hecker made national headlines in August 2023 when he went on camera with WWL Louisiana and the Guardian newspaper and confessed to “overtly sexual acts” with at least three teens, as well as sexual contact with at least four others when they were too young to give their consent under the law.
During that same interview, Hecker flatly denied ever having sex with anyone against his will. Two weeks later, he was indicted by a New Orleans grand jury, which charged him with doing just that.
In the months that followed, WWL and the Guardian obtained exclusive video of a 2020 deposition in which Hecker detailed how higher-ups in the archdiocese, including archbishops Philip Hannan and Francis Schulte, knew about the abuse for decades and kept putting him back in ministry. Schulte even promoted him to monsignor in 2000, after Hecker had already admitted to molesting teens in a typed statement to church officials in 1999.
“It wasn’t a big deal in those days,” Hecker said dismissively during the testimony.
Hecker’s deteriorating mental condition was a major bone of contention during the year the case was in front of Judge Benedict Willard.
Williams accused Hecker of “malingering.” He and his first assistant, Ned McGowan, pressed to keep the case moving to trial, even as Hecker’s defense team of Bobby Hjortsberg, Eugene Redmann and Matthew McLaren argued their client is no longer competent to stand trial.
He went from standing in the heat for 18 minutes for the WWL/Guardian interview in the summer of 2023 to wheelchair-bound and diagnosed with dementia in the spring of 2024. Every delay since heightened fears that Hecker would die before a trial could be held.
The last time jury selection was scheduled, on September 24, Judge Willard abruptly stepped down from the case, which was then transferred to Judge Nandi Campbell.
The victim, whom WWL and the Guardian are not naming, was expected to travel from out of town to testify. Nearly a dozen other victims of Hecker’s abuse also made similar plans to take the stand, with prosecutors expecting to call them to testify about Hecker’s larger pattern of abuse.
Hecker’s sentencing is set for December 18.
Stay with WWL Louisiana for more on this developing story.
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