One of the more-than two-dozen Archdiocesan priests who had been suspended for allegations of sexual abuse is now facing charges.
Police last Thursday arrested the Rev. Andrew McCormick for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in the 1990s.
McCormick faces a number of charges in connection with the 1997 incident: statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, indecent assault and indecent exposure.
He appeared in court last Friday for a preliminary arraignment and is free on $150,000 bail. His passport was suspended, and he was prohibited from having contact with the victim or any youth involved with the ministry, or through his volunteer or charity activities.
He is scheduled for a formal arraignment Aug. 16.
McCormick, 56, has no criminal history.
He was one of 26 clergy members suspended by the archdiocese last year after a sweeping grand-jury indictment in which he, and dozens of other priests, were identified as potential abusers. Seven priests have since been reinstated and seven others have been removed from ministry, while investigations continue in the other cases.
The arrest comes weeks after Monsignor William Lynn became the first Catholic official in the nation to be convicted of child-endangerment for his role in covering up abuse allegations within the church. Lynn directed the Archdiocese’s personnel investigations from 1992-2004.
The Archdiocese said in a statement last week that the charges relating to McCormick’s arrest are separate from those for which he was suspended.
District Attorney Seth Williams said the incident occurred when McCormick served as a priest at St. John Cantius in Bridesburg.
After the assault, the cleric allegedly told the boy, an altar server, that “masturbation is a sin, homosexuality is a sin, pre-martial sex is a sin and lying is a sin.”
The victim came forward in December, following media attention of other priest-abuse cases, as well as the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State University.
Williams said the young man should be commended for speaking up.
“He was able to do what, sadly, so many other victims of sexual abuse have not been able to do: come forward and tell the police,” Williams said in a statement. “As we have learned over the years, it is extremely difficult for sexual-abuse victims to admit that the assault happened, and then to actually report the abuse to authorities can be even harder for them. But with every new sexual-assault arrest and conviction, like the historic conviction of Monsignor Lynn, we hope more victims will come forward.”
Investigators believe McCormick “groomed” other altar boys for abuse as well, and may have abused the boys during a trip to Poland.
McCormick also served at St. Adalbert in Port Richmond, St. Bede the Venerable in Holland and was at Sacred Heart in Swedesburg when he was placed on leave.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251 or the District Attorney’s Office at 215-686-8080.