WVUE-TV, along with The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate and two other television news outlets filed a motion on Monday asking a judge to release court records on how the Archdiocese of New Orleans handled a retired priest who is accused of being a child molester.
Attorneys for the plaintiff suing the priest, Lawrence Hecker, and the archdiocese already have the documents, but the archdiocese is arguing to prevent their release.
The media has argued that Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Nakisha Ervin-Knott should release the documents.
Hecker has not been convicted of a sex offense, but he’s accused in civil court of crimes that can be prosecuted.
Attorneys for an alleged victim say the church kept Lawrence Hecker on the payroll and even paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2002 when the church claimed he was removed from the ministry.
The next hearing in the case is set for March 20. Ervin-Knott will hear arguments that day.