Ex-Catholic Cardinal Facing Sexual Assault Charges In Wellesley

WELLESLEY, MA — Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick was criminally charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy during a wedding reception at Wellesley College in 1974, according to the Boston Globe.

This makes McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, D.C. the highest-ranking Catholic official in the U.S. to face criminal charges in the clergy sex abuse scandal.

McCarrick, 91, a once highly valued figure in the Catholic church, is now charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, according to Wellesley police and the Boston Globe.

The man accusing McCarrick of the assault's name has been redacted from court filings.

On June 8, 1974, McCarrick's accuser, who was 16 at the time, said he was attending his brother's wedding reception at Wellesley College when McCarrick asked his father to "have a talk" with him on his behavior and his poor attendance at church, according to the report found by the Globe. The unidentified man said McCarrick molested him while walking around the campus, and added that he was lead into a small room where he was assaulted even further, with McCarrick saying he "needed to go to confession," using his position of power to sexually assault the teenager.

McCarrick, who now lives in Missouri, previously had allegations of his behavior made public in 2018, and he was expelled from the priesthood.

According to the Globe, it was assumed McCarrick would not be criminally charged even though there have been civil lawsuits in New York and New Jersey filed against him, alleging McCarrick sexually abused them in those states when they were children.

These charges could not be pursued because the statute of limitations has expired in those cases, preventing authorities from pursuing criminal charges.

However, McCarrick can be charged with the assaults in Wellesley because he was not a resident of Massachusetts and the statute of limitations stopped running when he left the state, according to the Globe.

When the incident happened, McCarrick was a monsignor and secretary to Cardinal Terence Cooke and lived in New York City.

Mitchell Garabedian, a well-known lawyer who played a large role for sexual abuse victims from the Catholic church will be representing the man alleging the abuse done by McCarrick in 1974.

Patch News reached out to Wellesley police who declined to comment on the matter.

A summons has been issued ordering McCarrick to appear at the court for arraignment on August 26.

For more information on this, read the Boston Globe.