PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
JOSEPH A. SLOBODZIAN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, March 5, 2014
After three days of prosecution testimony, the sexual-assault trial of Catholic priest Andrew McCormick moves to the defense Wednesday with the priest’s lawyers saying they have not decided whether their client will testify.
On Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp completed her case in a day dominated by a former Bridesburg altar boy’s conflicted testimony about his relationship with McCormick.
Adam Visconto, now 27, told the Common Pleas Court jury that McCormick was an influential spiritual mentor at St. John Cantius parish in Bridesburg. Visconto testified that McCormick “grew my soul” at a time he considered becoming a priest.
Visconto denied that McCormick ever molested him or was sexually inappropriate. But he also said he cut off contact with the priest because of what he called “proximity issues.”
Visconto cited several times when McCormick put his arm around him as they sat on a sofa in the rectory and a time when, he said, the priest asked him and another altar boy to meet him in the church’s basement.
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