Lawsuit filed against the Rev. McCormick

A MAN WHO has claimed he was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest in the rectory of St. John Cantius Parish in Bridesburg has filed a lawsuit against the priest and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

The man, now 27, has accused the Rev. Andrew McCormick, now 59, of sexually assaulting him in 1997, when the man was a 10-year-old altar boy.

Two criminal juries - one on March 11 of this year, another on March 12, 2014 - deadlocked on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old, child endangerment and corruption of a minor against McCormick.

In April, the District Attorney's Office said it would not prosecute McCormick a third time and dropped all charges against him.

McCormick's criminal-defense attorneys at his two trials, who have contended the complainant's claims against McCormick are not true, harshly criticized the lawsuit.

William J. Brennan, who represented McCormick in his first trial last year, said of the lawsuit: "I'm very surprised because the first trial was bitterly fought and the complaining witness said it was never about the money, never will be about the money . . . The prosecutor made that point also . . . And now, apparently, it is about the money."

Trevan Borum, who represented McCormick at his second trial this year, said he was not surprised by the lawsuit. He also said that in the second trial, "the prosecution took great pains to emphasize that [the complainant] would not file a civil lawsuit . . . That was a bold-faced lie."

Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp, the prosecutor at both trials, said yesterday that the chief of the D.A.'s Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit indicated it would be inappropriate for the office to comment.

Brian Kent, a civil lawyer who filed the July 10 lawsuit in Common Pleas Court, said yesterday on behalf of the alleged victim, named in the suit as "John Doe": "At this point, this is his only opportunity to hold the folks responsible for what happened to him accountable. There is not going to be another prosecution of McCormick."

The lawsuit also names Monsignor William Lynn, who was the Archdiocese's secretary for clergy from June 1992 to June 2004 and who is now in state prison, as a defendant.

The suit contends that the Archdiocese and Lynn had reason to know "McCormick was a pedophile, child molester and/or sexual predator who posed a danger to children."

It contends, as did the prosecution at McCormick's two criminal trials, that in 1997, McCormick, in his bedroom, undressed the boy and himself, then forced himself sexually on the boy, trying to get him to perform oral sex.

It says the alleged victim has suffered emotional distress and loss of the enjoyment of life, and had turned to drugs at a young age and attempted suicide because of what happened. The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000.

Kenneth Gavin, a spokesman for the Archdiocese, said yesterday he could not comment on the pending litigation. McCormick remains on administrative leave, Gavin said. He is not permitted to exercise his public ministry.

Gavin said he has no update on a canonical investigation into McCormick, which was begun, in accordance with Archdiocese policies, after the D.A.'s office decided in April not to prosecute McCormick a third time.

Lynn, 64, who was the first Catholic Church official in the U.S. convicted of endangering children, is in state prison in northeastern Pennsylvania, serving a three-to-six-year sentence.

His conviction was in relation to his supervision of now-defrocked priest Edward Avery, who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an altar boy in 1999.