NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WDSU [New Orleans]
July 6, 2023
By Aubry Killion
A federal judge who will decide if a sealed deposition linked to a former priest accused of child abuse will stay on the case.
Judge Jane Triche Milazzo is the federal judge overseeing a case where former New Orleans priest Lawrence Hecker is accused of sex abuse.
Attorneys involved in the case asked Milazzo to recuse herself after she voiced that she made donations to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, who is trying to keep Hecker’s deposition on the child sex abuse allegations sealed.
Court documents show Milazzo will stay on the case.
Last month WDSU spoke with Hecker, who did not comment on the abuse allegations but did say there was “good and bad in everybody.”
Attorneys for Hecker’s accusers are still pushing for his deposition to be made public. Milazzo has not ruled yet on that decision.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans says it is protected after they filed for bankruptcy.
Hecker has not been criminally charged with sex crimes but was on a list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse released by the New Orleans Archdiocese several years ago.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams received a “voluminous amount” of evidence from the New Orleans Archdiocese on Hecker and confirmed he is investigating him.