CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
The Associated Press
Published January 21, 2006, 2:56 PM CST
A 37-year-old Roman Catholic priest was charged Saturday with sexual abuse for allegedly fondling two boys at a West Side church, prosecutors said.
Authorities arrested Daniel McCormack on Friday night in the Chicago suburb of Orland Hills, and prosecutors charged him with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, said Cook County state's attorney spokesman John Gorman.
McCormack, a priest at St. Agatha church, allegedly fondled one of the victims, an 8-year-old boy, on two occasions in December 2003, Gorman said. McCormack also told the boy not to tell anyone and gave him gifts.
From September 2001 through January 2005, McCormack also abused another boy who was between the ages of 9 and 12 at the time, prosecutors alleged. Gorman said McCormack, who was the boy's basketball coach, abused the boy in the rectory and various rooms in the church.