Judge Rules McCarrick not Competent to Stand Trial; SNAP Responds
(For Immediate Release August 30, 2023)
Today a judge in Massachusetts dismissed the criminal case against former Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, saying that he was incompetent to stand trial. The disgraced and defrocked McCarrick was being prosecuted for sexually assaulting a child decades ago. His attorneys claimed that the once-powerful 93-year-old American prelate suffered from dementia and lacked the mental capacity to stand trial.
Our hearts go out to McCarrick's accuser. We stand in solidarity with him and commend him for his pursuit of justice. We believe a verdict of guilty would have been rendered had the case been allowed to proceed.
There is another case on behalf of the same survivor being prosecuted in Wisconsin. We hope that the courts in that state will reach a different decision, and finally allow this brave survivor his day in court.
McCarrick is the first Catholic cardinal in the United States to face criminal charges for child sex crimes. We hope that McCarrick's lengthy career as a Cardinal in the Catholic Church, despite early and continued reports of sexual abuse, will act as a lesson to Church officials. Criminal behavior -- even at high levels -- must be reported to law enforcement immediately, not "investigated" internally. Otherwise, the scandal that accompanied the one-time Cardinal's fall from grace will be repeated in the future.
CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications ([email protected], 267-261-0578)Melanie Sakoda, Survivor Support Director ([email protected], 925-708-6175) Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President ([email protected], 814-341-8386)
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 35 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
###
Showing 1 comment