Rev. Richard J. McCormick, S.D.B. – Assignment History In 2002 McCormick was removed from his position at St. Petersburg Catholic High School after a female student complained that he kissed her when she encountered him in a hallway. Other students defended the priest, saying "Fr. Mac" often greeted them with a kiss on the cheek. There is a gap of several years in McCormick's assignments after 2002; there is another, 1975-1976. In August 2009 he was suspended from the Marian Shrine in Stony Point NY, where he had been since at least 2005, after the Salesians agreed to settle with three men who had accused McCormick of sexually abusing them as junior seminary students in Goshen NY in the 1970s. At some point in the 2000s the Salesians settled with a man who said McCormick sexually abused him on a trip to Rome in 1975 when the man was a 14-year-old Salesian Prep student in Cedar Lake IN. In August 2012 McCormick was arrested for the rape of a boy, ages 9 and 10, at the Salesian camp in Ipswich MA in 1981 and 1982. He was convicted in November 2014 and sentenced to 8 to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years' probation. McCormick had been arrested a second time in April 2013 on charges of raping a 6- to 8-year-old boy at the same camp during 1981-1983. He was convicted in that case in August 2015 and given another 8- to 10-year prison sentence, to run concurrently with the sentence he was already serving. At least 16 people are known to have claimed they were sexually abused as children by McCormick, some as early as 1963.
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| Start | Stop | Assignments | Town/Allegations | State | Position | Notes |
< 1970 Archdiocese of Boston Archbishop was Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983). |
1971 | St. Dominic Savio High School | Boston
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MA | Dominic Savio had 390 students, all boys.
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1971 Diocese of Gary Bishop was Andrew Gregor Grutka (1956-1984). |
1975 | Salesian Prep School; Resident Junior Seminary; Camp Salesion for Boys; Retreat House for Boys; Salesian Boys Club | Cedar Lake • McCormick was accused in the 2000s of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy, who was a Salesian Prep student, during a trip to Rome in 1975. His accuser sued and received a settlement from the Salesians. |
IN | Per the Directories, there were 64-129 non-seminarians and 23-38 seminarians. | |
| 1975 | 1976 | McCormick is not indexed in the 1976 Directory, nor is he listed at his previous or next assignments. | ||||
1976 Archdiocese of New York Archbishop was Terence James Cooke (1968-1983). |
1980 | Salesian Junior Seminary | Goshen • In a lawsuit settled in 2009, 3 men accused McCormick of sexually abusing them when they were Salesian Junior Seminary students in the 1970s. Two of the men said a relative of McCormick's molested them as well. |
NY | Rector | Salesian Junior Seminary had 41-46 students. |
1980 Cooke was succeeded as New York archbishop by John Joseph O'Connor (1984-2000). |
1985 | Don Bosco Retreat Center | West Haverstraw
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NY | Vocation Director 1980-1983; Director 1983-1985 | |
1980s Archdiocese of Boston Archbishop was Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983) who was succeeded as Boston archbishop by Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002). |
Camp Salesian/ Sacred Heart Retreat Center and Seminary | Ipswich • McCormick was arrested in August 2012 in New Rochelle, NY and charged with fondling and raping a boy, ages 9 and 10, at Camp Salesian in the summers of 1981 and 1982. McCormick pleaded not guilty; he was convicted in November 2014. The priest would take the boy from his bed to the camp office to abuse him. He would also abuse the boy in a storage closet. His victim said he was so terrified he would hide under his older brother's bed, on a fire escape or in the woods. The boy knew McCormick as "Fr. Dick." • In April 2013 McCormick was arrested again, on charges of raping a boy, age 6 to 8 at the Salesian facility in Ipswich. The abuse occurred during 1981-1983. McCormick pleaded not guilty. He later pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the case in August 2015. His victim said the priest would have him sit on his lap and that "it hurt." |
MA | Director | This was a summer camp for disadvantaged boys. | |
1985 Archdiocese of New York Archbishop was John Joseph O'Connor (1984-2000), followed by Edward Michael Egan (2000-2009). |
1991 | Salesian Provincial House | New Rochelle | NY | Provincial "Very Rev." |
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1991 Archdiocese of New Orleans Archbishop was Francis Bible Schulte (1988-2002). |
1992 | St. Rosalie's | Harvey | LA | 2/2 | St. Rosalie's had a school with 1,025 students. |
1992 Archdiocese of Boston Archbishop was Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002). |
1998 | Don Bosco Technical High School | Boston | MA | Director | Don Bosco had 600-210 students, all boys. |
| 1992 | 1998 | St. John Bosco Chapel | Boston | MA | ||
| 1998 | 2000 | Savio Preparatory High School | Boston | MA | Youth Ministry Coordinator | Savio Prep had 270-389 students. |
2000 Diocese of St. Petersburg Bishop was Robert Nugent Lynch (1995-2016). |
2002 | St. Petersburg Catholic High School | St. Petersburg • McCormick was placed on leave in March 2002 after a female student complained that the priest "cupped his hands around her chin and gave her a kiss" several weeks previously. Other students defended McCormick, saying it was his habit to greet them with a kiss on the cheek. The students referred to McCormick as "Fr. Mac." |
FL | Director; theology and religion teacher | St. Petersburg Catholic had 620-649 students. |
| 2002 | 2005 | McCormick is not indexed in the 2003-2005 Directories. | ||||
2005 Archdiocese of New York Archbishop was Edward Michael Egan (2000-2009). |
August 2009 | NY Marian Shrine | Stony Point | NY | Director | McCormick is not indexed beyond the 2009 Directory. |
| August 2009 | Suspended | McCormick was suspended from ministry in August 2009 after the Salesians agreed to settle with three men alleging sexual abuse as boys by the priest in Goshen NY. By the time of McCormick's arrest in August 2012 for the rape of a boy in Ipswich MA during 1981 and 1982, he had been sued by 9 people alleging sexual abuse by him as boys, occurring as early as the 1963. After McCormick's April 2013 arrest he was sent to the Vianney Renewal Center in Missouri for treatment. After McCormick's November 2014 conviction he was sentenced to 8 to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years' probation. His victim filed a civil suit in March 2015. By November 2014 at least 16 people had claimed abuse by McCormick as children. After his guilty plea in August 2015, McCormick was sentenced to a second 8 to 10-year prison term, to run concurrently with the term he was already serving. McCormick diedApril 2, 2020. |
Priests in a Parish: We use the following
convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means
that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually
the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand
3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample
page from the Directory. • Priest Quits Teaching Job after Girl Reports a Kiss, By Kelly Ryan Gilmer, St Petersburg Times, March 23, 2002 |
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