Sexual abuse lawyers at Abels & Annes, working with co-counsel Hilfman & Martin, are preparing to file a third lawsuit against the Chicago Archdiocese in regards to former priest Daniel McCormack. The abuse case will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County within the next week. The Archdiocese of Chicago, the Catholic Bishop of Chicago and Cardinal Francis George will be named as defendants.
The lawsuit will be filed on behalf of John M. Doe to protect the victim’s identity. The plaintiff will allege that while he was in and around St. Agatha’s parish and St. Agatha’s rectory in Chicago from approximately eighth-grade (2002-2003) through his junior or senior year in high school (2005-2007), he was inappropriately and sexually touched, rubbed and abused by McCormack on multiple occasions.
It will allege that church officials failed to remove McCormack of his duties as priest after gaining information that he had a history of complaints against him for sexual abuse all the way back to his time in seminary.
It will also state that the archdiocese failed to report the priest’s behavior to the police or warn the public, but instead ordained him as a priest and promoted them through the system until he was finally named Pastor of St. Agatha’s in 2000. While at the parish, he was both a teacher and basketball coach.
It is alleged that during his time at the church, McCormack sexually abused children and church officials did not properly investigate allegations about the priest. They did not inform parents or police and instead they continued to let him work with young boys. Even after he was arrested and a review board recommended his removal in October of 2005, he was not removed until January 2006 when he was taken into police custody for the second time.
McCormack is currently incarcerated. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing five boys and he was sentenced to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.