Teen Sues Archdiocese, Claiming Abuse By Ex-Priest Daniel McCormack

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By Steven Tanner

Although accused pedophile Daniel McCormack eventually was defrocked by the Catholic Church, yet another alleged victim has stepped forward and filed a lawsuit for alleged abuse by the former priest, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The ex-priest was repeatedly shuttled to different church assignments even after sex abuse allegations surfaced.

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The latest victim, a 19-year-old man identified only as John E. Doe, claims Daniel McCormack sexually abused him while he was a sixth-grader at St. Agatha's parish from 2001 to 2002. The complaint, prepared by the victim's Illinois injury attorney, goes into graphic details about the alleged abuse:

"McCormack, as part of a continuing series of acts, raped, inappropriately sexually touched, rubbed and/or abused the plaintiff over eighty . . . times, including placing the plaintiff's hand on McCormack's penis more than sixty . . . times for penile stimulation."

In addition to the archdiocese, the suit also accuses Cardinal Francis George of negligence for knowing about the abuse allegations but still moving him to two other parish assignments. The suit also claims the church was negligent for not maintaining records of sexual abuse complaints by minors when the priest was a student.

The victim is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

Daniel McCormack was sentenced to five years in prison, where he currently resides, after pleading guilty to molestation charges in 2007. It is not clear if John E. Doe is among the five boys who were the reported victims in that case.

He was arrested in 2005 after a boy who became close to the priest alerted his mother, who declined to be named in an NPR article. But he was later released for lack of evidence. The mother explains how she learned about the incident:

"He came into the room, he was crying and shaking. I said, 'What's wrong?' He just kept crying. He said, 'Something bad happened. That priest, Father Dan -- he molested me.' I was like, 'Wait -- what are you talking about? You got to tell me everything.'"

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