2 Men Claim Previously Accused Priests Molested Them

Southtown Star
April 27, 2012

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/12161256-418/2-men-claim-previously-accused-priests-molested-them.html

Two men filed separate lawsuits in Cook County Circuit Court Thursday claiming Chicago Catholic priests molested them as children.

While the suits make allegations against different priests, they make similar claims against the Archdiocese, which is named as a defendant along with Cardinal Francis George. Both suits accuse the church of not notifying children’s parents and authorities about prior sexual abuse accusations against the priests.

An Archdiocese spokeswoman said she hasn’t seen Thursday’s suits and could not comment, but she said the Archdiocese acknowledges substantiated sexual abuse allegations against the two priests.

One suit focuses on the Rev. John Curran, who died in 2000 after more than 50 years serving the church. It claims Curran “fraternized with groups of children” and lured children to his room at St. Christina Parish in the city’s Mount Greenwood section, where he served from 1980 to 1993.

The plaintiff, listed as John A. Doe, claims Curran abused him in 1987 when he was a minor, and that he was so traumatized by the experienced that he repressed the memories until they resurfaced in 2011. The two-count suit seeks more than $100,000 in damages.

The suit follows another one filed Tuesday by an ex-altar boy who knew Curran.

The second suit filed Thursday focused on alleged sexual abuse by the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who has been the subject of multiple accusations from men and children in recent years.

The plaintiff, named only as John R. Doe, claims he was molested by McCormack from 2003 to 2005 and possibly 2006. It happened while the former priest was pastor at St. Agatha’s Parish, where he served from 2000 to 2006, according the suit. The alleged victim, born in 1993, was a basketball player coached by McCormack.

The Archdiocese failed to remove McCormack even though he was implicated in numerous cases of sexual abuse of minors, ranging from his seminary days in the late 1980s and early 90s to 2006, says the suit. It seeks more than $150,000 in damages.

In June 2007, McCormack pled guilty to five felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and was sentenced to five years in prison. The former teacher and coach at Our Lady of the Westside elementary school was paroled after 2 ? years.

The Archdiocese agreed in November 2011 to a $3.2 million settlement with a sexual abuse victim who claimed McCormack abused him and that Church officials failed to remove the priest despite knowing he had molested other children.