NEW ORLEANS — A retired New Orleans priest who walked back a public admission of sexual abuse has pleaded guilty to charges for offenses dating from 1975-1976. Msgr. Lawrence Hecker was due to stand trial Dec. 3 for first degree rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft. The rape charge, initially filed as aggravated, was later upgraded to first degree. He had been indicted in September 2023 by a grand jury. According to New Orleans Police Department reports, Msgr. Hecker raped and kidnapped a victim, who was not named, between Jan. 1, 1975, and Dec. 31, 1976. In August 2023, Msgr. Hecker denied his admission of abusing several youth that he had made in an interview that month with a local television station. At his September 2023 arraignment, Msgr. Hecker had pleaded not guilty to the charges. Now 93, Msgr. Hecker entered his guilty plea as jury selection was about to begin in his trial. Sentencing for the priest, who faces life in prison, is set for Dec. 18. (OSV News)
