New Orleans clergy abuse: details emerge after retired priest admits to kidnapping and child rape

Victim was going to testify about being forced to see a psychiatrist for lying or face expulsion from school after rape by Lawrence Hecker, now 93

The star witness in a clerical molestation case that has rocked one of the most Catholic cities in the US was going to tell a jury that his high school principal forced him to see a psychiatrist for anger issues and fantasy stories" - or face expulsion - after reporting that a priest had raped him on campus.

Such shocking testimony was set to be delivered in a criminal trial against the retired priest, 93-year-old Lawrence Hecker, that was scheduled to begin Tuesday in New Orleans. But it was upended when the clergyman unexpectedly pleaded guilty to charges of child rape and kidnapping, a decision that guarantees him a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.