A former Catholic priest sent to prison for fondling five boys has been accused by four other young men of molesting them, church officials confirmed today. A church review panel has substantiated sexual abuse claims made by one of the men against Daniel McCormack, a defrocked Chicago priest who in 2007 was sentenced to five years in prison for earlier abusing five youths.
The sexual abuse claims made by three other men are being studied by the Chicago archdiocese’s review board, said Susan Burritt, spokeswoman for the archdiocese.
After receiving the complaints, church officials also alerted the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Burritt said.
McCormack, 41, received a five-year prison term after pleading guilty in 2007 to charges he fondled five boys at St. Agatha Parish and Our Lady of the Westside School.
He was scheduled to be released from custody last fall, but officials filed a civil lawsuit seeking to keep him confined as a sexually violent person in a locked mental health center.
He remains confined while that lawsuit is proceeding, though McCormack is contesting the efforts to keep him locked up for mental health treatment.
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