Priest Charged With Sexually Assaulting Young Boy - Philly.com
AFTER HEARING of the Jerry Sandusky and Philadelphia Catholic priests child-sexual-abuse cases in December, a 25-year-old man found the courage to tell police about his alleged ordeal of being sexually assaulted by his Catholic priest when he was 10 years old in 1997, Philadelphia law-enforcement officials said Friday.
And the young man had quite an tale to tell against the Rev. Andrew McCormick, District Attorney Seth Williams said.
“I applaud the courage of this young man,” Williams said. “He was able to do what, sadly, so many other victims of sexual abuse have not been able to do: come forward and tell the police.”
Williams said that McCormick assaulted the boy inside the rectory at St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg.
To keep him quiet, the priest reportedly told the boy, “Masturbation is a sin, homosexuality is a sin, premarital sex is a sin, and lying is a sin.”
An investigation by the D.A.’s office and the police Special Victims Unit led to an arrest warrant for McCormick, 56, who turned himself in Thursday.