Ex priest, 93, pleads guilty to raping, kidnapping young boy

Muri Assunção, New York Daily News on Dec 4, 2024

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A retired Roman Catholic priest accused of raping and kidnapping a young boy nearly 50 years ago entered a guilty plea on Tuesday, just before jury selection for his criminal trial was set to get underway.

Lawrence Hecker, 93, pleaded guilty to first-degree rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft. He’s scheduled to be sentenced to life in prison on Dec. 18.

Hecker is accused of choking the young victim before sexually assaulting him in an area in the school’s bell tower. The boy, who was underage, claims he told the school principal, Paul Calamari, about the incident, but nothing was done about it.

Calamari didn’t alert the police, according to the victim. Instead, the principal arranged for the young student to undergo psychological treatment.

An investigative report by The Guardian published in June 2023 found that Hecker had confessed to church officials to sexually molesting multiple teenagers he’d met in the church.

Later that year, when confronted about the report in an interview with the New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL, Hecker admitted to molesting several underage boys but denied doing so against their will.

In September 2023 Hecker was indicted by a grand jury on allegations he raped and kidnapped a young boy between 1975 and 1976, when the victim was 15 or 16.

Hecker’s shocking admission on Tuesday, just ahead of his trial, surprised his attorney, Robert Hjortsberg.

“He’s taken responsibility for his actions and you know, everyone will have an opportunity to move forward in any way they can,” Hjortsberg told reporters outside the courtroom.

The news also came as a surprise to the victim’s attorney, Richard Trahant, who also represents several of the victims who were set to testify against the disgraced priest.

“In [Hecker’s] confession, the first inkling that the archdiocese had of Hecker molesting children was in the late ’60s, early ’70s and it came up repeatedlyevery decade … and they did nothing about it. They moved him like a toxic dangerous chess piece from one parish to another with an endless supply of little boys,” he said.

“Larry Hecker is going to pay the piper, and I hope he suffers miserably,” he added. “I have no forgiveness in my heart. I’ve seen too much of what this man has done.”