Ex-cardinal charged with sexual assault

Pope Francis defrocked former Washington, D.C., Archbishop Theodore McCarrick in 2019 following substantiated claims of abusing teenagers and seminarians. Now McCarrick, 91, is the first U.S. cardinal to face criminal charges for alleged sexual abuse. Prosecutors say McCarrick sexually assaulted a teenage boy at a wedding reception in 1974. He denies the accusations, and his lawyer said they “look forward to addressing the case.”

What is the allegation? McCarrick faces three counts of indecent battery and assault. His alleged victim was a 16-year-old boy at the time, attending his brother’s wedding at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. The man said McCarrick was a family friend. He claims the clergyman fondled him and ordered him to say “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys” to atone for his sin afterward. The statute of limitation has not expired on the case, The Boston Globe reported, because McCarrick lived in New York City at the time and the clock stopped running when he left Massachusetts.

Dig deeper: Read Kiley Crossland’s report in Relations about the Vatican summit on sexual abuse.