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Prosecutors 'Forced' to Drop Sexual Abuse Charges Against Defrocked Priest

By Erica Demarest | February 24, 2016 4:51pm
 Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped charges against Daniel McCormack, a defrocked priest and convicted child molester.
Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped charges against Daniel McCormack, a defrocked priest and convicted child molester.
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DNAinfo; Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped sexual-abuse charges against Daniel McCormack, a defrocked priest and convicted child molester.

McCormack, 47, was charged in May 2014 with aggravated criminal sexual abuse amid allegations he repeatedly fondled a 10-year-old boy in 2005.

During a hearing Wednesday, neither McCormack nor the alleged victim was present.

The Cook County State's Attorney's office in a statement said it was "forced" to dismiss charges in the case because the victim became reluctant to cooperate.

"The victim in this case went to police and made a complaint, and after reviewing the facts and circumstances, the State’s Attorney’s Office brought charges in good faith," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

"However, as the case has progressed through the courts, the victim has chosen not to cooperate with the prosecution. As a result, the State's Attorney's Office was forced to dismiss the charges this morning."

McCormack is still being held indefinitely at a state-run facility pending a separate hearing on whether he is a sexually deviant person, prosecutors said.

In 2007, McCormack pleaded guilty to molesting five other children while he was a priest at St. Agatha Parish on the West Side. He was sentenced to five years in prison and defrocked the same year.

To date, the Archdiocese of Chicago has paid millions of dollars in settlements to McCormack's alleged victims.

In the case that dismissed Wednesday, McCormack was accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy after he took the boy to a White Sox game in late 2005.

McCormack on another occasion molested the boy while the pair watched TV at the rectory of St. Agatha Parish, prosecutors alleged. McCormack told the boy not to tell anyone.

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