Theodore McCarrick, Former Archbishop of Washington, Charged With Sexual Assault

U.S.|Ex-Cardinal McCarrick Faces Sexual Assault Charges

Theodore E. McCarrick, the erstwhile Roman Catholic cardinal expelled by Pope Francis aft the religion recovered him blameworthy of sexually abusing minors and big seminarians implicit decades, was criminally charged connected Wednesday with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old lad successful 1974.

The transgression ailment makes Mr. McCarrick the highest-ranking Catholic authoritative successful the United States to look transgression charges successful the intersexual maltreatment situation that has plagued the religion for decades.

Mr. McCarrick, 91, the erstwhile archbishop of Washington, was charged with 3 counts of indecent battle and artillery connected a idiosyncratic property 14 oregon over. He is expected to look successful Dedham District Court successful Massachusetts for arraignment connected Sept. 3.

“It takes an tremendous magnitude of courageousness for a intersexual maltreatment unfortunate to study having been sexually abused to investigators and proceed done the transgression process,” Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for the complainant successful civilian matters, said successful a statement. “Let the facts beryllium presented, the instrumentality applied, and a just verdict rendered.”

The charges, reported earlier by The Boston Globe, picture allegations that Mr. McCarrick sexually assaulted the lad 3 times astatine the teenager’s brother’s wedding reception astatine Wellesley College connected June 8, 1974. The unfortunate described the encounters to investigators successful January.

Mr. McCarrick’s lawyer, Barry Coburn, said successful a statement, “We look guardant to addressing this lawsuit successful the courtroom.”

Jeff Anderson, a lawyer who represents 5 radical who said Mr. McCarrick abused them, said that quality of the transgression charges brought a substance of alleviation and choler among victims, and that helium hoped for a speedy trial.

“The choler the survivors consciousness is truthful palpable,” helium said. “The much they person known and the much that is unearthed, the worse it gets.”The transgression charges are “a milestone successful the prosecution of abusive bishops,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a radical that tracks allegations against priests.

“For McCarrick, today’s reckoning is agelong overdue,” she said.

Mr. McCarrick’s expulsion from the priesthood 2 years agone pursuing a Vatican proceedings marked the archetypal clip a cardinal, the church’s highest-ranking presumption aft the pope, was defrocked for intersexual abuse. It was besides the archetypal clip an American cardinal was removed from the priesthood.

On Thursday, a lawsuit of Mr. Anderson’s filed a civilian suit against Mr. McCarrick and the Archdiocese of Newark, wherever Mr. McCarrick served arsenic archbishop from 1986 to 2000. The suit alleges that Mr. McCarrick “inflicted unpermitted harmful and violative intersexual contact” connected the plaintiff successful the mid-1980s, erstwhile helium was astir 12 years old.

Mr. Coburn, Mr. McCarrick’s lawyer, said helium had nary remark connected the lawsuit.

Statutes of regulation person made it hard to prosecute allegations that Mr. McCarrick sexually assaulted radical during his emergence to power. But this week’s charges against Mr. McCarrick successful Massachusetts could proceed due to the fact that helium was not a authorities nonmigratory and due to the fact that the timepiece connected the statute of limitations stopped erstwhile helium was not successful the state.

The Norfolk territory attorney, Michael W. Morrissey, who is representing the authorities successful the case, declined to remark earlier the arraignment, said his spokesperson David Traub. Meghan Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, which is progressive successful the case, said the probe was ongoing.

Alain Delaquérière contributed research.