$50m Suit Filed against ‘sexually Violent’ Ex-priest Daniel Mccormack

Chicago Sun-Times
October 6, 2017

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/50m-suit-filed-against-sexually-violent-priest-daniel-mccormack/

Daniel McCormack | Illinois Department of Corrections

A lawsuit filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court seeks more than $50 million in damages from convicted child molester and defrocked priest Daniel McCormack and the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The plaintiff, identified only as John Doe, developed a “trust relationship” with McCormack while playing on a basketball team the pastor coached at St. Ailbe School, 9037 S. Harper Ave., according to the suit. After graduating in 1998, the plaintiff continued playing basketball at St. Agatha’s Parish, 3147 W. Douglas Blvd., where McCormack was a pastor.

The suit alleges that McCormack sexually assaulted John Doe on one occasion —sometime between 1998 and 2000. The plaintiff didn’t recall the sexual abuse until the summer of 2017, according to the suit, which claims his memories were repressed and/or suppressed.

In 2017, McCormack pleaded guilty to sexually abusing five boys and has since spent time in prison and a state mental facility for sex offenders. He could end up in state custody indefinitely after a judge last month ruled that he is a “sexually violent person” under state law.

The suit Thursday was the latest to claim the archdiocese was aware of sexual misconduct by McCormack, which occurred even while he was in the seminary. Nevertheless, McCormack was ordained a priest and given his own congregation, according to the suit.

The suit requests a jury trial.