Two men claim now-defrocked priest abused them
August 14, 2012 1:28PM
McCormack
Updated: January 31, 2013 1:44PM
Two men filed separate lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Chicago, claiming now-defrocked priest Daniel McCormack abused them at a West Side parish nine years ago. The lawsuits, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court against the archdiocese and Cardinal Francis George, list the plaintiffs only as John Doe. Both men, now in their early 20s, claim they first met McCormack at St. Agatha Catholic Church, where he was a pastor and coach starting in September 2000, according to the suits. One of the plaintiffs claims he was in seventh grade when McCormack first began inappropriately hugging and touching him. The boy, who worked in the parish’s after-school day care program, claims the then-pastor began sexually abusing him two years later, in 2003. The other plaintiff claims McCormack began abusing him in 2003, when the priest coached him on a parish basketball team. Both suits claim the abuse happened on parish property, and both blame the archdiocese for failing to restrict McCormack’s access to children, even though officials knew he had abused minors in the past.
Each three-count lawsuit claims negligence against the archdiocese, George and the Catholic Bishop of Chicago, and claims at least $150,000 in damages.
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