Laicized Catholic Cardinal pleads not guilty to sexual abuse

Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy in the 70s.

McCarrick, 91, arrived at a court in Massachusetts where he was facing battery and indecent assault charges, and pleaded not guilty.

Mr. McCarrick who is considered to be the US’s highest-ranking Catholic to face sexual assault charges has said to have no memory of the abuse.

The lawsuit was filed in July and accuses Mr. McCarrick of groping and abusing the boy whose name has been hidden from the public.

The victim, who is now a man claims the assault took place at his brother’s wedding at Wellesley College in 1974. He alleges Mr. McCarrick took him into a room at the college and groped him.

The priest then allegedly told the victim to repent. Recite prayers to be forgiven.

On Friday, the court ordered Mr. McCarrick not to contact the alleged victim or any children. A $5,000 bail was set and the next hearing is scheduled for October 28.

If found guilty, Mr. McCarrick will be a registered sex offender and could face imprisonment of up to 10 years.

He was laicized by the Holy See in 2019 after a Review board of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York found an allegation coming out of the state credible.

In 1971 and 1972, McCarrick was accused by an altar boy of sexual assault when he was a priest in New York.

He had allegedly “unzipped and put his hands inside the boy’s pants.”

Other allegations have him forcing a man to share a bed with him in New Jersey when the two were still studying to become priests.