Mass. Priest Ricard McCormick Charged with Rape of a Child; Pleads Not Guilty
It's good to know that this poor excuse of a religious leader will finally get his day in court on abuse he placed upon his victims many, many years ago.
Read more of the report below:
Rev. Richard McCormick pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape of a child last week. McCormick, 71, ran a summer camp for children from the Boston area in Ipswich, Mass. back in the early 1980s. He is also the former head of the New Rochelle-based Salesian Brothers’ eastern division.
The police and D.A.’s office conducted a year-long investigation after being contacted by the alleged victim.
Rev. McCormick is accused of seeking out a boy who was 10 years old and sexually assaulting him. Prosecutors say the alleged abuse happened in 1981 and 1982. Prosecutors says the victim claims McCormick would sometimes get him from his bed in the camp dorms. The victim told investigators the abuse only stopped when he resorted to hiding in the woods at night or hiding under his older brother's bunk.
Consequently, while this is the first time Rev. McCormick has been charged criminally, he has been sued by nine other people who claim they were molested by the priest when they were children.
Boston attorney Garabedian negotiated a 2009 financial settlement on behalf of three men who said they had been sexually abused by McCormick in the late 1970s. These men were students at the now-closed Salesian Junior Seminary in Goshen. LoHud.com reported: McCormick was director of the seminary for several years. The order did not admit or deny liability. Garabedian said at the time that three other men had come forward to make abuse claims against the priest.
"The significance of this case is that from 1986 to 1991 he was the provincial leader of Don Bosco. He was their leader. He was the one who gave thousands of individuals direction under his tutelage," Garabedian said.
A vice provincial from the order came to the Salem Superior Courthouse Friday as a show of support. "It's like family and when family is in trouble you try and stay behind them as best you can, but at the same time without undermining or denigrating the hurt of other parties involved," Rev. Steve Dumais said.
Rev. McCormick has been released on $1,000 cash bail. He is allowed to return to the Salesian headquarters in New Rochelle, New York, where he remains an active member of the order. Rev. Dumais was ordered by the judge to be Rev. McCormick's custodian. Rev. Dumais is charged with making sure Rev. McCormick is supervised at all times and returns to his next court appearance on October 23.
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