BishopAccountability.org
	West Side Priest Puts in Plea of Not Guilty Cleric Is Charged in 3 Molestations By Jeff Coen jcoen@tribune.com Chicago Tribune March 2, 2006 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northwest/ chi-0603020310mar02,1,7653924.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorthwest-hed A Chicago priest accused of molesting three boys at St. Agatha Catholic Church on the West Side has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Rev. Daniel McCormack entered and left the Criminal Courts Building through a swarm of television news cameras Wednesday. McCormack spent just a few minutes before Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Sumner as his lawyer entered the plea. Defense attorney Patrick Reardon told the judge McCormack would plead not guilty in each of the cases. McCormack was arrested Jan. 21 and charged with abusing one boy between September 2001 and January 2005, and another in 2003. A third charge was added early last month after it was alleged the priest molested a third boy over a period that ended in December. McCormack has been released on $500,000 bail. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has indicated it is reviewing additional abuse allegations involving as many as five other minors. DCFS has had preliminary discussions with prosecutors, but no additional charges are imminent, investigators said. Reardon had no comment as he left court. The case has stirred controversy because the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago left McCormack in his post at St. Agatha after the first allegations of abuse surfaced. In a new agreement, the church now is reporting such allegations to state child welfare officials. Barbara Dorris, outreach director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, reacted to the priest's plea Wednesday. "Father McCormack would spare his victims, their families and Chicago Catholics pain and humiliation if he would plead guilty to his crimes," Dorris said. "But if it takes a full blown criminal trial to protect kids and put him behind bars, we are confident his victims and the prosecutor will follow through."
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.