McCarrick was expelled from the College of Cardinals and later from the priesthood for pederasty and will now stand trial. Now 91 years old, some victims will also be able to obtain civil justice.
Former Cardinal McCarrick to stand trial for sexual abuse of minors
As The Boston Globe reports, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will face several charges of child molestation in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, making him the highest-ranking cleric in the country to sit in the dock.
Specifically, McCarrick was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy during a wedding at Wellesley College in the 1970s.
Thus, Wellesley police have filed a complaint against the former cardinal, charging him with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a minor.
Although the case is time-barred, a legal quibble allows the elder to stand trial, since McCarrick did not reside in Massachuetts, and the statute of limitations stopped running when he left the state.
Now, as he has returned to reside there, the proceeding has been reactivated.
The investigation was opened in January by prosecutors in Norfolk and Middlesex counties after the victim’s attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, wrote a letter to prosecutors alleging sexual abuse by McCarrick.
According to the complaint, McCarrick was a family friend and began abusing the young man when he was a child.
The alleged victim, then 16, claimed that while at his brother’s wedding. McCarrick told him that his father wanted the two of them to “have a talk” because the teen was misbehaving at home and not attending church, according to the report
As they walked around campus, the clergyman touched his genitals, which he then repeated inside, claiming he “had to go to confession.” “He fondled me while praying for me to feel holy,” the report states.
