Defrocked Catholic Cardinal Charged with Sexually Assaulting Teen in the 1970s

The highest-ranking Catholic predator in the world has just been criminally charged with… exactly what you think.

In 2019, Theodore McCarrick became the first Catholic cardinal to be defrocked for sexually abusing boys under his care. It was a shock given both his place in the Church hierarchy and the fact that he was the former archbishop of Newark and Washington D.C.

Through the Vatican’s inquiry into the allegations, we learned that McCarrick would often bring teenage boys with him when he traveled many decades ago — it was considered an honor for their families — only to sexually abuse them on the trips. He allegedly abused seminarians. There was a “sex ring” at a beach house. There were at least 10 allegations against him from minors.

And now he’s facing criminal charges for the first time.

According to the Boston Globe, yesterday, McCarrick was charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery for “sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy during a wedding reception at Wellesley College in the 1970s.”

The Associated Press offers more (disturbing) details:

The man says McCarrick groped him when he was 16 in 1974 as they walked around the campus of Wellesley College, where his brother’s wedding reception was being held. The man also alleges that McCarrick led him into a room and fondled the boy before telling him to “say three Our Fathers and a Hail Mary or it was one Our Father and three Hail Marys, so God can redeem you of your sins,” according to the court documents.

I don’t know what sickens me more: The action itself or McCarrick allegedly telling the boy to ask God for forgiveness, as if the boy did anything wrong.

The 91-year-old McCarrick’s first court appearance in this case is scheduled for August 26.