Former Leader of Salesian Brothers Charged with Raping Boy in 1980s

WBUR
August 31, 2012

http://www.wbur.org/2012/08/31/priest-charged-with-raping-boy-in-1980s

A former high-ranking member of a Roman Catholic religious order is scheduled to appear in court in Massachusetts on Friday to face accusations that he molested a child three decades ago.

The Rev. Richard McCormick is to be arraigned in Salem Superior Court on five counts of child rape, according to the Essex district attorney’s office.

McCormick was arrested Thursday in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Police allege the assaults took place in Ipswich in 1981 and 1982 when the alleged victim was 11 and 12 years old.

The district attorney did not release additional details, but Mitchell Garabedian, who is the civil representative for the man who made the criminal complaint, said the alleged abuse took place at a camp run by the Salesian Brothers of Don Bosco.

McCormick once led the order in the East, Garabedian said.

Garabedian has settled nine civil cases with the Salesians involving McCormick, he said, although there is no lawsuit pending with the complaint in the current criminal case. That person’s name was not disclosed.

A message left with the Salesians’ eastern U.S. headquarters in New Rochelle on Friday was not immediately returned. It was not immediately clear whether McCormick had a lawyer.