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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans

Retired New Orleans priest gets life in prison after pleading guilty to child rape

Lawrence Hecker New Orleans
black and white picture of priest
Lawrence Hecker. Photograph: Provided photo

A serial child molester and retired Roman Catholic priest on Wednesday declined an opportunity to apologize to his victims after pleading guilty to child rape earlier in December.

Lawrence Hecker’s silence came on Wednesday in New Orleans’s state criminal courthouse as a judge handed him a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.

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