Confessed child rapist and retired priest Lawrence Hecker has died aged 93 | Clergy Abuse in New Orleans

Confessed child rapist and retired Roman Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker has died just over a week into his life sentence, officials said said on Friday.

Hecker, 93, pleaded guilty Dec. 3 to kidnapping and raping a teenager at a New Orleans church in 1975. He was sentenced to life in prison on Dec. 18 and four days later transferred to a Louisiana prison called Elayn Hunt, according to state Department of Corrections spokesman Ken Pastorick.

Pastorick said Hecker died of what were believed to be natural causes around 3 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 26, at a hospital in Baton Rouge, the state capital of Louisiana.

Hecker’s attorney, Robert Hjortsberg, said Hecker should ultimately be transferred to Louisiana’s maximum-security prison, nicknamed Angola, before his death.

Hjortsberg’s co-counsel Eugene Redmann said Hecker’s health had deteriorated.

The child rape survivor who successfully filed a criminal complaint against Hecker said Friday he felt “vindicated and free” when he learned of his attacker’s death, which came about 15 months after the priest was charged and arrested for the assault last year entered in 1975.

“I can’t find any kind words for his death,” the survivor said. “The words ‘May he rest in peace’ are so hollow.

Citing an empty feeling he has harbored since Hecker’s conviction, the survivor added: “He received human justice, he was deprived of his freedom for 15 months, now all I can think of is a prayer: I hope that after this he will spends eternity in hell.” God’s judgment on him.”

Hecker became one of the faces of the decades-long clergy abuse scandal in the New Orleans Catholic Church – and was shielded from justice by his religious superiors for most of his life.

The survivor who doomed Hecker said he was a student at St. John Vianney High School in New Orleans – named after a patron saint of Catholic priests – when the abusive priest befriended him.

The survivor had a habit of working out in a weight room constructed from a room in the bell tower of an adjacent church, known locally as “Little Flower.” The school has since closed alongside St. Jean Vianney School, which catered primarily to boys interested in joining the Catholic priesthood.

One day, Hecker showed up in the weight room and talked to the boy about his dream of joining a St. Jean sports team. According to court documents, Hecker suddenly put the then-16-year-old boy in a wrestling-style headlock, rendering him unconscious and raping him.

The survivor later recounted how he told his mother and the school principal about his rape by Hecker. However, he said the principal, Paul Calamari, never alerted the police and instead threatened to expel him if he did not undergo psychological treatment for what the principal called “anger issues and fantasy stories.”

Hecker initially denied these specific allegations. But in 1999, he admitted in writing to Catholic church bureaucrats in New Orleans that he had abused or sexually molested several other children he had met through his work as a priest.

Still, the church allowed Hecker to return to work for several years before retiring with full benefits. The church then waited until 2018 to finally inform the public that Hecker, Calamari and dozens of their counterparts were facing significant allegations of child sexual abuse – all of which resulted in the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans being shut down for less than two years Filed for bankruptcy later.

After the church revealed that Hecker was a child predator, the former St. Jean Vianney student teamed up with a civil attorney, Richard Trahant, to file a formal complaint with law enforcement about the survivor’s rape. The case progressed slowly until the summer of 2023, when the Guardian and then New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL Louisiana began publishing a series of reports on Hecker’s 1999 confession – as well as actions the church had taken to address it Disclosure to hide for more than two decades.

The media managed to publish these reports even though the church’s bankruptcy hid most archdiocesan affairs behind a court-mandated seal of confidentiality.

Finally, in September 2023, Louisiana State Police and New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams’ office obtained a grand jury indictment charging Hecker with child rape, kidnapping and other crimes in connection with the 1975 St. Jean Vianney shooting was accused.

The case was delayed for more than a year amid questions about whether Hecker, as a nonagenarian struggling with dementia, had the competency to stand trial. In the end, he was found competent, paving the way for a trial that was scheduled to begin on December 3rd.

However, Hecker was able to avert the trial by pleading guilty as charged and receiving a life sentence 15 days later. It was the first time in at least recent memory that a Catholic priest in the city of New Orleans – whose archdiocese counts hundreds of thousands of believers – was convicted of child rape, one of Louisiana’s most punishable crimes.

The verdict brought presiding judge Nandi Campbell to tears of sympathy for Hecker’s victims.

One, Aaron Hebert, who agreed to testify in support of the former St. Jean Vianney student, called Hecker “Satan in priest’s clothing,” someone who stole his childhood. Another survivor called Hecker “an animal” and thanked God that the day of justice had finally come.

The former St. Jean Vianney student testified that his rape by Hecker condemned him to a life of disjointed personal relationships – including with his wife and children. “I have no friends,” he said as Hecker cried and wiped his eyes. “I pushed everyone away.”

That survivor has since expressed a desire to see some of Hecker’s supporters eventually face criminal charges. It remains to be seen whether this is possible, although a broader investigation spurred by the case against Hecker remains active and ongoing.

Law enforcement statements made under oath in April as part of the broader investigation specifically said authorities had probable cause to believe the archdiocese was operating a child trafficking ring responsible for the “widespread…abuse of minors.” that goes back decades,” the “covert” was “uncovered and not reported” to the authorities. But no one but Hecker had been charged at the time of his death.

After news of Hecker’s death broke Friday, Williams said, “We had no time to waste.”