A 93-year-old former priest in New Orleans, Lawrence Hecker, pleaded guilty to charges related to the sexual assault of a teenage boy in 1975. He had been scheduled to stand trial but entered his plea to aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature, first-degree rape, and theft before Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Nandi Campbell. Sentencing is set for December 18, with Hecker facing the possibility of life in prison.
The trial had faced delays due to concerns about Hecker's mental competency, with a doctor confirming his Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Despite these conditions, he was found competent to stand trial. Hecker had confessed to molesting multiple juveniles during his time with the Archdiocese of New Orleans, leading to his indictment last year.
