{"id":133333,"date":"2024-12-04T20:59:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T13:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133333"},"modified":"2024-12-04T20:59:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T13:59:47","slug":"new-orleans-clergy-abuse-details-emerge-after-retired-priest-admits-to-kidnapping-and-child-rape-new-orleans-clergy-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133333","title":{"rendered":"New Orleans clergy abuse: details emerge after retired priest admits to kidnapping and child rape | New Orleans clergy abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The star witness in a clerical molestation case that has rocked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/new-orleans-clergy-abuse\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">one of the most Catholic cities in the US<\/a> was going to tell a jury that his high school principal forced him to see a psychiatrist for \u201canger issues and fantasy stories\u201d \u2013 or face expulsion \u2013 after reporting that a priest had raped him on campus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Such shocking testimony was set to be delivered in a criminal trial against the retired priest, 93-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/dec\/03\/lawrence-hecker-retired-new-orleans-priest-pleads-guilty-child-kidnapping-rape-boy\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Lawrence Hecker<\/a>, that was scheduled to begin Tuesday in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/new-orleans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">New Orleans<\/a>. But it was upended when the clergyman unexpectedly pleaded guilty to charges of child rape and kidnapping, a decision that guarantees him a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The most complete account yet of the case that state prosecutors in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/new-orleans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">New Orleans<\/a> were prepared to present against Hecker \u2013 after he had long benefited from a complex cover-up largely engineered by his church superiors \u2013 is contained in court documents obtained by the Guardian and WWL-TV upon the sudden conclusion of the case.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"7613e2c0-a139-4315-9256-95afc5607624\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-1your1i\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:3,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Retired New Orleans priest pleads guilty to kidnapping and raping boy in 1970s&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;7613e2c0-a139-4315-9256-95afc5607624&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/dec\/03\/lawrence-hecker-retired-new-orleans-priest-pleads-guilty-child-kidnapping-rape-boy&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:0,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:0}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">According to a 13-page filing from the office of the New Orleans district attorney, Jason Williams, the victim who pursued the case against Hecker was about 16 when the priest raped him in 1975.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Hecker at the time had hired the teen to help set up masses at New Orleans\u2019 St Theresa the Little Flower church to satisfy a pastoral service requirement at his school next door, St John Vianney Prep. Hecker would also encounter the teen at weekly pool parties for students at the local seminary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">One Sunday after mass, as was his habit, the teen was working out in a weight room in St Theresa\u2019s bell tower. Hecker showed up unannounced in the weight room that day and spoke with him about the teen\u2019s hopes of making one of St John\u2019s sports teams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The priest told the child that he had heard St John would soon be starting a wrestling team. He purported to teach the teen some moves to help him make the squad. The ruse allowed Hecker to position himself behind the boy and put him in a chokehold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Authorities would later assert that the teen felt Hecker rape him before he lost consciousness as he tried to fight his attacker off. When the teen woke up, he realized the back of his shorts were wet, so he discarded them as he went home. He said he then noticed it was much later in the day because of the way the sunlight was hitting the bell tower \u2013 and that he was alone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The teen later told his mother about the rape \u2013 as well as his principal, Paul Calamari, who summoned the boy to his office after he had gotten into a fight with a friend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cCalamari immediately became angry and asked \u2026 who he told about the incident,\u201d prosecutors later wrote in court filings. The boy described telling his mother, prompting Calamari to set up a meeting with the child\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cCalamari told [his] parents that [he] needed to see a psychiatrist due to his \u2018anger issues and fantasy stories\u2019 or he would be expelled,\u201d prosecutors would later write. \u201cThe thought of expulsion scared [him], so he agreed to go to a therapist for the next several months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The boy suspected the Catholic church must have paid for the therapist because he knew his parents could not afford it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Much later, long after St John Vianney and St Theresa both were shuttered, it would become clear to the victim \u2013 now 65 \u2013 that he was far from the only boy Hecker had preyed on.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"9f643092-9b19-4570-bdd7-81ecce9c01ea\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-1your1i\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:14,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Catholic priest accused of sexual assault fathered children of victims, court hears&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;9f643092-9b19-4570-bdd7-81ecce9c01ea&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/nov\/26\/catholic-priest-anthony-odiong-sexual-assault-bail-hearing&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:0,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:0}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">In 1999, Hecker admitted in writing to Catholic church leaders in New Orleans that he had molested or sexually harassed several other children whom he met in prior decades through his ministry \u2013 work that also saw him involved with the Boy Scouts, another organization plagued with a history of child abuse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The New Orleans archdiocese nonetheless allowed Hecker to return to work before he retired with lucrative benefits a few years later. The local church then waited until 2018 to notify its congregants that Hecker \u2013 along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwltv.com\/article\/news\/investigations\/david-hammer\/priest-abuse-victims-question-if-archdiocese-properly-investigated-referred-cases-to-vatican\/289-93b5fa1d-675d-446a-a6d4-22d7aa6ebda5\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Calamari<\/a> and dozens of their fellow clergymen \u2013 had been the subject of substantial, credible child sexual abuse allegations. But even then, it only acknowledged receiving a complaint against Hecker documented in 1996, long after the rape at St Theresa and almost a decade after the archdiocese had called Hecker in to address another molestation complaint.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Hundreds of abuse claims against its clergy eventually drove the institution with a half-million followers in its region to file for bankruptcy protection in 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Two years after Hecker\u2019s unmasking as a child predator, the former St John Vianney student spoke to law enforcement about his rape. But his case was slow to progress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Eventually, in June 2023, the Guardian managed to get a copy of Hecker\u2019s 1999 admissions and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/jun\/20\/new-orleans-priest-lawrence-hecker-child-abuse\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">exposed<\/a> them to the public for the first time despite a seal of confidentiality on information associated with the church bankruptcy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The Guardian provided the confession to WWL-TV <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/louisiana\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Louisiana<\/a> in August 2023, and both outlets confronted Hecker on camera. Hecker told the outlets that his written confession about \u201covertly sexual acts\u201d with underage boys who were \u201c100% willing\u201d was accurate and authentic, but he denied ever choking anyone or raping anyone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">A couple of weeks later, with the help of Louisiana state police investigator Scott Rodrigue, Williams \u2013 the New Orleans district attorney \u2013 secured a grand jury indictment charging Hecker with child rape and kidnapping.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The case was delayed for more than a year over questions about whether Hecker had the mental competence needed to withstand trial. The judge who had the case for a year, Benedict Willard, suddenly recused himself on an earlier trial date in September, ensuring another delay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">But as it became clear that the trial in front of Judge Nandi Campbell would proceed on Tuesday, at least 10 witnesses who alleged a range of sexually abusive acts by Hecker from the 1960s to the 1980s stood prepared to testify against him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Many had served Hecker as altar boys and accused him of fondling them, including while swimming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">One described taking a walk with Hecker in some woods outside New Orleans when the priest put him in a wrestling hold, began trying to rape him and then sauntered off as if nothing happened when another child approached upon hearing the commotion. After that boy grew up, Hecker officiated his wedding because the bride\u2019s family was close to him \u2013 a shocking turn of events to which Williams alluded on Tuesday while speaking with reporters outside the courthouse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cLawrence Hecker married him and his fiancee because his bride\u2019s family was that close to Lawrence Hecker,\u201d Williams said. \u201cUnderstand the complexities of this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Hecker on Tuesday pleaded guilty as charged while the first set of prospective jurors who might have been chosen to hear about some of those acts gathered outside Campbell\u2019s courtroom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">None of Hecker\u2019s superiors were charged alongside him. Rodrigue interviewed Calamari, though it was never clear whether Williams\u2019 office intended to call him as a witness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Hecker factors into a broader, pending state police investigation aiming to determine whether the archdiocese <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/apr\/25\/archdiocese-new-orleans-abuse\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">ran<\/a> a child sex-trafficking ring responsible for the \u201cwidespread \u2026 abuse of minors dating back decades\u201d that was \u201ccovered up and not reported\u201d to law enforcement, as Rodrigue put it in April in a sworn statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Yet Tuesday still marked a stunning outcome because it has been rare for Catholic clergymen to be charged \u2013 much less convicted \u2013 in connection with the worldwide church\u2019s decades-old clerical molestation scandal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cThere is no better result the district attorney could have gotten,\u201d said Richard Trahant, the attorney for the star witness in the case against Hecker. \u201cThere just isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<footer class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\"><em><span data-dcr-style=\"bullet\"\/> In the US, call or text the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.childhelp.org\/hotline\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Childhelp<\/a> abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.childhelphotline.org\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">their website<\/a> for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ascasupport.org\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">ascasupport.org<\/a>. In the UK, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nspcc.org.uk\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">NSPCC<\/a> offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (<a href=\"https:\/\/napac.org.uk\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Napac<\/a>) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or <a href=\"https:\/\/bravehearts.org.au\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Bravehearts<\/a> on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blueknot.org.au\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Blue Knot Foundation<\/a> on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.childhelplineinternational.org\/child-helplines\/child-helpline-network\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Child Helplines International<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/dec\/04\/new-orleans-clergy-child-sex-abuse-lawrence-hecker\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The star witness in a clerical molestation case that has rocked one of the most Catholic cities in the US was going to tell a jury that his high school &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133333\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}