NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Nola.com [New Orleans, LA]
August 8, 2024
By Jillian Kramer
A judge on Thursday set a tentative trial date for an elderly former priest accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy nearly five decades ago while he was serving in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The trial date follows weeks of upheaval as Lawrence Hecker’s mental competency was questioned.
Criminal District Court Judge Benedict Willard set Hecker’s trial for Sept. 24, a date the court will hold pending a determination from a court-appointed psychiatrist.
Psychiatrists determined that Hecker, 92, suffers from short-term memory loss, and imaging tests — contained among more than 7,000 pages of Hecker’s medical records collected over the last year — showed changes to Hecker’s brain consistent with age-related dementia.
But to definitively determine whether Hecker has dementia — and if so, whether it is reversible — targeted, comprehensive dementia testing was necessary, psychiatrist Sarah Deland said in July.
Willard ordered the additional evaluation of Hecker’s mental faculties last month. The results showed Hecker has mild-to-moderate dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, Willard said on Thursday. But Deland had not yet provided her opinion on the findings.
“In the event the doctors say there is an issue of competency,” Willard said, he will convert Hecker’s trial date to a status hearing.
The testing further delayed a case that has remained stagnant for months, as prosecutors and defense attorneys argued over Hecker’s ability to stand trial.
Hecker’s attorneys first raised concerns over his mental competency ahead of his March 25 trial date. At the time, attorney Robert Hjortsberg likened Hecker to a “vegetable,” claiming the former priest had significantly declined since his September arrest and grand jury indictment.
District Attorney Jason Williams has argued that Hecker has feigned or exaggerated his mental deficiencies as part of a larger “dilatory” tactic by the defense “to delay this day in court.”
Hecker is charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature, first-degree rape and theft in connection with the alleged incident, which took place sometime between 1975 and 1976. If found guilty as charged, Hecker faces life in prison.
An investigation by The Guardian also revealed additional allegations against the former priest. More than 25 years ago, Hecker allegedly confessed to abusing several teenagers, according to the publication. But the Catholic Church allowed him to remain in the clergy, The Guardian reported.
The alleged victim in the criminal case has also filed a civil lawsuit against Hecker and the archdiocese. The victim’s attorney, Richard Trahant, has repeatedly expressed frustration about the stunted progression of the criminal case, which could have implications for its civil companion.
Hecker is only one among dozens of former clergy who have been accused of similar abuses in the New Orleans area. Archbishop Gregory Aymond five years ago identified 50 former clergy members that the church determined had been credibly accused.
Outside the court on Thursday, another alleged survivor recalled an encounter with Hecker. He said the priest beckoned him and several other boys into the sacristy of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gretna, and then fondled their genitals. That alleged assault, which is separate from the one described in the indictment against Hecker, took place in 1968, the survivor said.
The Times-Picayune does not typically name survivors of sexual assault.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” the alleged survivor said of the criminal case’s progression. “It has its peaks and it has its valleys. Today is somewhat of a peak, as we have the trial date.”