New Orleans priest’s accuser ‘relieved’ by indictment after 48 years, lawyer says

Man whose report of abuse led to Lawrence Hecker's indictment on Thursday first reported it as a teenager in 1975

The accuser of a retired New Orleans Catholic priest who was indicted on a child rape charge on Thursday remembers immediately reporting the assault to the high school where it happened - and being heartbroken that nothing was ever done about it.

Now, 48 years later, the victim is hopeful that Lawrence Hecker - the man charged with raping him at a church attached to his school - will finally face justice, his attorney told the Guardian and WWL-TV in an interview Thursday.