PHILADELPHIA (PA)
San Francisco Chronicle
MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press
Updated 8:38 a.m., Thursday, August 16, 2012
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge has dismissed the three most serious sexual assault charges against a Philadelphia priest after hearing details of the alleged contact from the priest’s accuser.
Father Andrew McCormick was bound over for trial Thursday on misdemeanor charges including endangering the welfare of a child and indecent assault, but had the three felony counts against him tossed at a preliminary hearing.
The now-24-year-old accuser, a former altar boy, told the court McCormick groped and molested him inside a rectory bedroom in 1997. But the judge dismissed charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and sexual assault after determining the contact didn’t include penetration.
McCormick is free on bail and due back in court Oct. 18.
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