No Verdict Yet in Sexual-assault Trial of Phila. Priest

Philadelphia Inquirer
March 7, 2014

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140308_No_verdict_yet_in_sexual-assault_trial_of_Phila__priest.html

The Rev. Andrew McCormick gets into a car outside the center for criminal justice Thursday, March 6, 2014, in Philadelphia. The Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting an altar boy briefly took the stand Wednesday to deny the 1997 encounter, but acknowledged being reprimanded twice for having children in his private living quarters. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) AP

No verdict yet in priest sex-abuse case

PHILADELPHIA The jury in the sex-assault trial of the Rev. Andrew McCormick, a Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy at a Philadelphia church in 1997, finished its first full day of deliberations Friday without a verdict and will resume its talks Monday.

Before leaving, the Common Pleas Court jury asked Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright to again instruct its members in the law when they return.

McCormick, 57, is charged in five counts involving sexual assault, child endangerment, and corrupting minors in an incident that allegedly occurred when McCormick was a priest at St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg.

McCormick was pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Montgomery County when he and 26 Roman Catholic priests were suspended in March 2011 by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for possible inappropriate conduct with children. - Joseph A. Slobodzian