Alleged Abuse Victim Opens up about Ex-priest Daniel Mccormack, Lawsuit against Archdiocese

By Dana Kozlov
CBS Chicago
February 18, 2016

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/02/17/alleged-abuse-victim-opens-up-about-ex-priest-daniel-mccormack-lawsuit-against-archdiocese/

[with video]

Confusion, anger and depression. One Chicago man battled all of these emotions for more than ten years before he finally told someone he had been molested by former Catholic priest, Daniel McCormack.

The man, who we are not identifying, speaks out for the first time about the abuse and his lawsuit against McCormack and the Archdiocese of Chicago

“I figured it was time to get some help to tell my dark secret,” he said.

The young man, who we’ll call John Doe, isn’t ready to reveal his identity. He still struggles to talk about what happened inside Saint Agatha’s School on Chicago’s West Side, when he was alone with former priest, Daniel McCormack.

“Hey, I thought this guy, he was okay, so I kind of stuck to him like glue,” he said.

John says he trusted McCormack, and “It ended up turning into sexual abuse.”

He says it happened during and after school hours over two months in 2000, when he was in third grade. It ended when he transferred schools.

“Back then…I didn’t really find anything wrong with it or I didn’t know anything was wrong with it at the time but when I got older, it got worse.”

What got worse was his sexual and emotional confusion and his ability to trust. Finally, a few years ago, he told a friend who’d had a similar experience. Now, he’s filed a civil lawsuit after a judge, this month, ruled McCormack’s victims prior to 2005 can also seek damages.

“I think there’s a big social justice purpose here,” said attorney Eugene Hollander.

John says McCormack owes victims like him an, “apology…a better childhood.”

An Archdiocesan spokesperson says, “We are disappointed in the ruling and will respond at an appropriate time.”

Right now, the case is set for trial in July and Hollander says he expects McCormack will be in court for it.