Originally published at National Catholic Register
A Louisiana priest who pleaded guilty to raping a teenage boy decades ago will spend the rest of his life in prison, a criminal court ruled this week.
Lawrence Hecker was handed the life sentence in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court on Wednesday. The sentence was given by Judge Nandi Campbell “without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension.” Campbell was reportedly weeping for Hecker’s victim as she ordered the life sentence.
“He admitted to some very horrible crimes,” Hecker’s lawyer Bobby Hjortsberg told media after the sentencing.
“He took responsibility for that and I believe that sparing the victims from having to go through the anguish of a trial should give them some closure and allow them to walk away from this knowing they got justice,” Hjortsberg added.
Hecker had pleaded guilty earlier this month to the kidnapping and raping of his teenage victim in the 1970s. The last-minute plea headed off a long-delayed trial that launched with an indictment last year.
In September of last year, the 93-year-old priest was indicted on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, an aggravated crime against nature, and theft. The sex abuse crimes are alleged to have occurred between Jan. 1, 1975, and Dec. 31, 1976.
The trial was repeatedly
