Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The bond for former Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker will remain at $850,000 after a judge denied the request for a bond reduction on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
Defense attorney Bobby Hjortsberg argued the bond should be reduced because the 92-year-old is “not a flight risk, he’s not a danger to the community, he can’t afford to make bonds and there are sufficient alternatives to incarceration.”
Hecker pleaded not guilty during his arraignment earlier this September. He is accused of sexually molesting and harming several teenagers between 1966 and 1972. One of the alleged victims claimed Hecker choked and raped them, but Hjortsberg said, “we haven’t seen any evidence to prove that yet.”
If found guilty, his charges could include aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft.
Hjortsberg responded to questions after the hearing about Judge Benedict Willard’s response to their arguments, “I think that the judge is fair, I think that he’s doing what, you know, he believes is necessary to give us, you know, the due process that we deserve, and sometimes it’s just a matter of taking it up to a higher court.”
In light of the denial, the defense intends to seek a review from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on the decision.
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