Archdiocese paid settlements for priest accused of sex, would not answer questions about bankruptcy, report says

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A New Orleans Archdiocese attorney said Wednesday the church paid out four financial settlements in cases involving former priest Lawrence Hecker, who is accused of sexually molesting children.

According to The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate, attorney Dirk Wegmann also said in court the church found out about at least one abuse allegation against Hecker in 1988.

That is 14 years before he was removed from public ministry.

Also during the status conference involving a lawsuit an alleged Hecker victim filed, one of the plantiff’s attorneys asked archdiocese lawyers if the church was contemplating filing bankruptcy.

Archdiocese attorneys reportedly would not answer. Hecker was named on the archdiocese’s 2018 list of clergy credibly accused of child sex abuse.

Earlier this month, FOX 8 found him living in an Uptown apartment.

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