CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
January 26, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND FRANK MAIN Staff Reporters Advertisement
A nun who worked at Chicago's Holy Family Catholic School -- where the Rev. Daniel McCormack used to say mass for students once a week -- has told the Chicago Sun-Times she alerted officials of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago of her concerns about the priest's behavior with children as early as winter 2000.
The nun, who asked that her name not be used, said a fourth-grade boy at Holy Family claimed McCormack asked him to pull down his pants in the sacristy of the church when the two were alone after a Friday mass in 2000. She said she told several archdiocesan officials about the child's allegations -- both verbally and in writing -- on several occasions, but her warnings went unheeded.
The nun's revelations emerged Wednesday as Chicago authorities widened their investigation of the 37-year-old priest, who was charged last weekend with sexually abusing two boys at St. Agatha's church in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood.
Chicago Police are investigating an allegation that McCormack abused a student in 2000 at the now-shuttered Holy Family School at May and Roosevelt, and investigators also were interviewing a teenager Wednesday about allegations he was abused by McCormack last year, said police spokeswoman Monique Bond.