PHILDELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial
By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net
Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright today swore in a panel of 12 jurors and 4 alternates. Then, the judge gave the jury a cold case to solve, namely whether a Catholic priest had sexually assaulted a former altar boy some 16 years ago.
The cold case comes with a media spotlight. “This is what’s called a publicity or media case,” Judge Bright warned the just-picked panel of 12 women and 4 men.
The judge informed the jury that it was one of the most “important and solemn duties of citizenship” for them to sit as jurors who will decide the fate of Father Andrew McCormick. The 57-year-old priest is accused of sexually assaulting a former 10-year-old altar boy during the 1997-98 school year at St. John Cantius Church in Northeast Philadelphia.
McCormick was arrested on July 26, 2012, after the victim in the case came forward some 14 years after the alleged crime. The victim told the district attorney’s office he was motivated by the trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was convicted on June 22, 2012 of one count of endangering the welfare of a child, another former 10-year-old altar boy known as “Billy Doe.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.