Catholic Church Scandal!

A judge’s decision to remove himself from handling the child rape and kidnapping trial of a retired Roman Catholic priest in New Orleans left the victim in the case devastated, and that kind of disappointment “is why these victims don’t come forward”, said Richard Trahant, an attorney for the star witness in the case.

Judge Benedict Willard’s decision on Tuesday to remove himself from handling the trial of 93-year-old Lawrence Hecker, who has previously admitted to child molestation, stunned observers. Willard had presided over the case for more than a year after it was first filed in early September 2023, and his decision occurred on the morning jury selection was scheduled to begin.

Willard cited “disrespect” from one of the assistant district attorneys prosecuting the aging Hecker, who on Tuesday morning also happened to be hospitalized apparently with a urinary tract infection.


Tuesday’s chaotic sequence of events resulted in at least the eighth delay in the case since January and left Trahant’s client unsure of when Hecker may be tried.

“This dude put his life on hold, came down here, prepared … and [on the morning of jury selection] the defendant has a UTI and the judge suddenly recuses himself,” Trahant said about his client after the case was transferred from Willard’s courtroom. “It was like a double safeguard” against going to trial, he said.

Trahant added: “Hecker might live to be 100. But I would imagine every time a trial date comes up, he is going to have some kind of ailment.”……

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...kidnapping-trial-delay?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other