IPSWICH — The Rev. Richard McCormick, a priest found guilty of five counts of child rape earlier this month, has been sentenced to serve eight to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation.

Richard McCormick, 73, of New Rochelle, N.Y., a retired priest who ran a summer camp for disadvantaged Catholic youths in the early 1980s, was found guilty by a Lawrence Superior Court jury earlier this month. 

"When he prays, he should not pray to his god, he should pray to a beautiful, innocent, charming little five-year-old boy," said the now-44-year-old victim, who was 11 and 12 when he was abused. That boy, the victim's own son, is "the only reason Richard McCormick still wakes up every morning."

Prosecutor Kate MacDougall asked for a 12- to 15-year prison sentence, saying McCormick stole the victim's faith and altered the entire course of his life.

McCormick's attorney, Stephen Neyman, called the retired priest a "broken man" and urged the judge to sentence him to no more than two years, potentially to be spent at the Missouri facility where McCormick lived before trial.

McCormick ran the Salesians camp on the grounds of the former Sacred Heart retreat in Ipswich.

The priest kept his head down and was silent during this morning's sentencing.