An Orleans Parish criminal court judge has ordered the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans to turn over all records related to clergy sex abuse to the Louisiana State Police, a sign that investigators may be expanding their probe into the local church.
Magistrate Judge Juana Lombard signed a search warrant Monday at the request of state police investigators, who have been looking into the local Roman Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandal since 2022, state police spokesman Jacob Pucheu said Wednesday.
The agency’s investigation stems from the ongoing probe into former archdiocesan priest Lawrence Hecker, 91, who is accused of raping multiple children from 1966 through 1979 and was indicted by an Orleans Parish grand jury on rape, kidnapping and theft charges. His trial, scheduled for March, was delayed after his attorneys raised questions about his mental competency.
Pucheu said his agency initiated the probe after receiving “numerous complaints of child sex…
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