Key takeaways:
- A Louisiana grand jury has charged 91-year-old disgraced priest Lawrence Hecker with sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 1975.
- The prosecution of Hecker is seen as a significant step forward in the effort to hold church leaders accountable for their failure to protect children from sexual abuse.
- The case against Hecker is expected to be closely watched by victims of abuse and their advocates, as it could provide insight into the church’s handling of the abuse crisis and the extent of its knowledge of the abuse.
A Louisiana grand jury has charged 91-year-old disgraced priest Lawrence Hecker with sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 1975, an extraordinary prosecution that could shed new light on the decades-long child sex abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church.
Hecker has been at the center of state and federal investigations of clergy sex abuse and a deepening scandal over why church leaders failed to report his admissions to law enforcement even as they permitted him to work around children until he quietly left the ministry in 2002.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans publicly identified Hecker as a suspected predator in 2018 when it released its list of “credibly accused” priests. The grand jury’s decision to charge Hecker comes after a lengthy investigation into the church’s handling of the abuse allegations.
The prosecution of Hecker is seen as a significant step forward in the effort to hold church leaders accountable for their failure to protect children from sexual abuse. It is also seen as a sign of progress in the fight to bring justice to victims of abuse and to ensure that the church is held responsible for its actions.
The case against Hecker is expected to be closely watched by victims of abuse and their advocates, as it could provide insight into the church’s handling of the abuse crisis and the extent of its knowledge of the abuse. It could also provide an opportunity for victims to seek justice and closure.
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