Clergy child sexual abuse probe targets New Orleans Catholic Church leaders who may have shielded predators

Officials have broadened a probe into clergy sexual misconduct within the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans to encompass higher-ranking church leaders believed to have protected predatory priests for years and neglected to disclose their offenses to the authorities.

Last week, the Archdiocese of New Orleans was the target of an extensive search warrant executed by the Louisiana State Police. The warrant aimed to uncover a hidden collection of church documents and correspondence between local church officials and the Vatican regarding the church’s response to cases of clergy sexual misconduct.

The investigation entered a fresh stage with the search, aiming to uncover the knowledge of specific church officials, such as current and former archbishops, regarding allegations that were “overlooked and often concealed,” as stated in the warrant.

The warrant revealed multiple fresh pieces of information regarding the probe into sex-trafficking, such as allegations that certain victims were subjected to sexual assault in a seminary pool after being instructed to “skinny dip.”

According to the warrant, individual priests who were preying on victims established a scheme where they would distribute “gifts” to the victims, who were then directed to pass them on to other clergy members at different schools or churches.

“It was said that the ‘gift’ was a form of signaling to another priest that the person was a target for sexual abuse,” Scott Rodrigue, a state investigator, noted in the affidavit showing his support for the warrant.

The warrant demanded a wide range of staff records, “files contained in any and all safes” and reports and records indicating the level of assistance provided by the archdiocese to clergy members following their inclusion on the list of individuals deemed “credibly accused” of misconduct.

The authorization also verified a simultaneous FBI investigation into religious leaders’ sexual misconduct that was previously disclosed by The Associated Press almost twenty-four months ago.

The inquiry has explored whether clergy members transported minors across state borders to commit acts of sexual abuse against them.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond has chosen not to reply to a request for comment and has continuously ignored pleas from clergy abuse accusers to resign.

“No one and no institution is above the law, especially when we are talking about protecting children from the horrors of child sexual abuse,” Kathryn Robb stated, who is the executive director for Child USAdvocacy, which is a nonprofit that’s advocating on behalf of alleged child sexual abuse victims. “This warrant is the necessary muscle of the criminal system to protect children.”

Numerous highly controversial church documents came to light during a wave of legal cases involving sexual abuse, leading the archdiocese to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection four years ago.

The records detail decades of allegations of misconduct, conversations with suspected clergy members, and a history of church officials moving troubled priests around, yet they have been protected by a broad confidentiality decree in the bankruptcy proceedings that has hindered both state and federal probes.

“We have been forced, against our own professional obligations, to keep them secret,” lawyers John Denenea, Richard Trahant, and Soren Gisleson said, who are representing the alleged victims.

The quest may heighten the legal jeopardy for church officials, putting them at risk of facing state court charges while the U.S. Justice Department grapples with determining federal crimes linked to clergy sexual misconduct.

In the previous year, a grand jury in Orleans Parish brought charges against Lawrence Hecker, a 92-year-old former clergy member, for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 1975. This unprecedented legal action led to a more extensive investigation of the archdiocese last week.

Hecker has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of sexual assault, abduction, severe offense against nature, and robbery.

The individual is facing allegations of rendering the adolescent insensible by choking him while pretending to execute a wrestling maneuver, and then engaging in sexual misconduct.

The archdiocese neglected to disclose Hecker’s confessions to authorities while allowing him to be in close proximity to children until he departed from the clergy without much fanfare in 2002.

Despite being sent to a psychiatric facility in Pennsylvania and labeled as a pedophile, Hecker was still moved to a different location by church officials, the warrant writes.

“Hecker was not the only member of the archdiocese sent to receive psychiatric testing based on allegations of child sexual abuse,” Rodrigue put in the warrant.

The era of the Hecker case poses challenges in terms of law and evidence for prosecutors, who must navigate the delicate political landscape of bringing charges against a respected clergyman in predominantly Catholic New Orleans.

Several predatory priests in Louisiana have evaded legal repercussions for similar reasons, heightening the significance of the recent investigation.

In the year 2019, there was a notable instance involving George F. Brignac, a respected deacon and educator, who was accused of sexually abusing a former altar boy during the 1970s.

Brignac passed away in 2020 at the age of 85 as he awaited trial wheree had entered a not guilty plea.

Legal proceedings concerning Brignac revealed numerous undisclosed emails detailing covert public relations efforts conducted by New Orleans Saints officials on behalf of the archdiocese in 2018 and 2019 to manage the repercussions of clergy abuse scandals.