The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has settled another lawsuit accusing defrocked priest Daniel McCormack of sexual abuse, this one for $2.3 million.
The settlement was reached with a man who claimed in a lawsuit that he was 12 when he was twice sexually abused by McCormack when the priest was assigned to St. Agatha’s Parish in Lawndale on the West Side.
The man, identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, was not a member of the parish but lived in the area and often went to a nearby basketball court to play pick-up games.
Doe said he was abused the first time before McCormack was arrested on Aug. 30, 2005 on suspicion of sexually abusing a different child, according to the lawsuit.
McCormack was allowed to return to St. Agatha’s and continue interacting with children, including on the basketball courts, according to the man’s attorney, Lyndsay Markley. That’s when the man was abused the second time, she said.
McCormack was permanently from the priesthood in November 2007 and pleaded guilty that year to abusing children.
“He was a predator, he was a child molester, and they will look for the most vulnerable people,” Markley said. “All children are vulnerable. … Most of these children were abused while seeking healthy alternatives to the street violence.”
The lawsuit was filed in 2014 and was settled on Jan. 5 after 10 hours of mediation before a judge, Markley said. The attorney said the man agreed to mediation to avoid the trauma of a trial.
“Going over the things that come up in trial, it’s a very invasive process — more invasive than it should be – and I’m pleased that we were able to resolve it before my client was harmed any further,” she said.
The resulting settlement “allows him to receive whatever care, treatment or comfort is necessary for him to live the best life possible and move forward from this terrible tragedy," Markley said.
Markley believes the children living around the church were especially vulnerable. “They were kids in Lawndale whose parents didn’t necessarily have the best daycare options … It’s one of our most vulnerable communities and we focus on the gun violence, but there are other ways that these young African American men are violated,” she said. “It’s unconscionable.”
A spokeswoman for the archdiocese, Colleen Tunney-Ryan, declined to comment on the details of the settlement but said in a statement, “The abuse of any child is a crime and a sin. The archdiocese encourages anyone who has been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious, lay employee or volunteer to come forward.”
Tunney-Ryan said information about reporting sexual abuse can be found on the archdiocesan website under “Protecting Children” at www.archchicago.org or by calling the Office for Child Abuse Investigations and Review at 312-534-5205, or the Office of Assistance Ministry at 312-534-8267.
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