Former Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019, is facing a second sexual assault charge. The 92-year-old was charged with fourth-degree sexual assault Monday in Wisconsin. McCarrick is facing a similar charge in Massachusetts. File photo by Patrick D. McDermott/UPI Photo | License Photo
April 17 (UPI) — Former Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is facing his second sexual assault charge since being expelled by Pope Francis four years ago.
McCarrick, 92, who is the highest-ranking Catholic official in the United States to be prosecuted for sexually abusing a child, was charged Monday with one count of fourth-degree sexual assault in Wisconsin from an accusation dating back to April of 1977. McCarrick is already facing another charge in Massachusetts.
According to the complaint, McCarrick sexually abused a 19-year-old repeatedly at a home on Geneva Lake in southern Wisconsin, where they were both guests. The victim said he was 11 years old when McCarrick first exposed himself, adding that the former Cardinal would often take him “to a special event or lavish party and then sexually assault” him.
Monday’s new charge comes from a report made to the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse initiative, which Wisconsin’s Justice Department started two years ago.
“Thank you to the brave survivors who have made reports through the clergy and faith leader abuse initiative,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “I encourage other survivors who have not yet reported to consider speaking to the victim services specialist at DOJ who is dedicated to this initiative and to make a report.”
In September of 2021, McCarrick pleaded not guilty to multiple criminal charges of sexual misconduct stemming from accusations he abused a teenage boy during the 1970s in Massachusetts. McCarrick was accused of molesting a 16-year-old boy at a wedding at Wellesley College in 1974.
In February, McCarrick’s lawyers asked a judge to dismiss the case, saying the 92-year-old has dementia and is not mentally competent to stand trial.
The statute of limitations in both cases has held up in Massachusetts and Wisconsin because McCarrick was not a resident in either state.
The victims, who are now in their 60s, are among more than a dozen people who have accused McCarrick of abuse or harassment when they were boys, seminarians or clerics.
As accusations of sexual abuse were revealed over the years, McCarrick was removed from his ministry in 2018. Pope Francis defrocked him a year later after the Vatican said he was guilty of sexual abuse in another case involving a 16-year-old altar boy at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in 1971.
