- Title: Defrocked Cardinal to appear in Massachusetts court on sexual assault charges
- Date: 25th August 2021
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (FILE - FEBRUARY 14, 2013) (REUTERS) (WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY) CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK AND JOURNALIST WALKING IN GARDENS OF NORTH AMERICAN COLLEGE VATICAN CITY (FILE - NOVEMBER 19, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MCCARRICK TALKING WITH A CARDINAL ELECTOR (PURPLE HAT) OUTSIDE VATICAN MCCARRICK ENTERING VATICAN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, USA (FILE - APRIL 25, 2002) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) MCCARRICK ARRIVING IN AIRPORT (SOUNDBITE) (English) CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK, SAYING: "I am very optimistic. We are on the, we're on the right road now. And I think that we're in something where we can guarantee our people in the United States that, that, we're in control of this. It will never happen again. Holy Father (then John Paul II) was wonderful. Holy Father made it so clear that this is so important to him and is to all of us." (SOUNDBITE) (English) CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK, SAYING: "From now on anyone who has this problem who is credibly accused of this will never work in the United States. That's clear from what the Holy Father said." VATICAN CITY (FILE - NOVEMBER 20, 2010) (REUTERS) MCCARRICK (LEFT OF SCREEN) CONGRATULATING NEW AMERICAN CARDINAL RAYMOND LEO BURKE
- Embargoed: 8th September 2021 21:23
- Keywords: Catholic Church Priest Theodore McCarrick Vatican sexual assault
- Location: ROME, ITALY, VATICAN CITY, PALO, LEYTE, PHILIPPINES
- City: ROME, ITALY, VATICAN CITY, PALO, LEYTE, PHILIPPINES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA001ERS4I13
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is scheduled to appear in a Massachusetts court on Thursday (August 26) after being charged in late July for molesting a 16-year old boy during a wedding reception at Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1974.
Documents filed in state court in Dedham, Massachusetts, show McCarrick, 91, faces three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years or older.
The alleged victim told investigators that McCarrick, a family friend, began molesting him when he was a boy, according to a police report filed in court. The abuse took place in several states, including New York, California and New Jersey, the report said.
McCarrick, who currently lives in Dittmer, Missouri, is scheduled to be arraigned in Massachusetts on September 3, according to a spokesperson for the Norfolk County district attorney's office.
McCarrick groped him as they walked around campus before taking him into a small closet-like room and fondling him while saying prayers, the man told authorities.
McCarrick was expelled from the priesthood in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found him guilty of molesting both minors and adults.
A lengthy Vatican report released in November 2020 found that McCarrick had risen through the church's ranks despite persistent rumors of sexual misconduct, including a 2000 promotion from Pope John Paul II.
McCarrick's attorney, Barry Coburn, told Reuters: "We look forward to addressing the case in the courtroom."
The victim's lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, said the case is the first time that a U.S. cardinal has been criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor.
"It takes an enormous amount of courage for a sexual abuse victim to report having been sexually abused to investigators and proceed through the criminal process," he said in an email.
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