Trial Begins for Priest Accused of Molesting Altar Boy

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

Opening statements are set to start Thursday in the Philadelphia trial of a priest arrested after his accuser followed child sex-assault trials involving Penn State and the Roman Catholic church.

The accuser, a former altar boy, says he was sexually assaulted after Mass in 1997 by the Rev. Andrew McCormick.

McCormick was suspended from the Philadelphia archdiocese over a less serious allegation when he was arrested in 2012.

The 57-year-old priest’s lawyer says the charges — including sexual assault, child endangerment and indecent exposure — stem from one encounter with a lone accuser.

Philadelphia prosecutors have been investigating priest-abuse reports in Philadelphia for a decade, and have gained several sex-abuse convictions.

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