Former altar boy reveals grim details of Philadelphia priest’s alleged sex abuse

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New York Daily News

BY CAROL KURUVILLA / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014

A former altar boy opened up in court on Thursday about the abuse he allegedly endured under the hands of a trusted Roman Catholic priest.

The Rev. Andrew McCormick, 57, quietly listened to the unidentified young man speak about the sexual encounter that left him scarred at the age of 10.

“I remember trying to hang myself a lot. … Probably every week,” the man, now 26, told a Philadelphia courtroom. “I couldn’t deal with the guilt of what had happened, or what I am.”

McCormick has pleaded not guilty to the crime. The priest, who worked at St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg at the time, has been placed on administrative leave by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He was arrested in July 2012, the Philadelphia Daily News reports.

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